Mathadi Act: Maharashtra sets up panel to hear complaints

Companies in Maharashtra have criticized the Maharashtra government’s move to form a committee to look into complaints received under the Mathadi Act, terming the move as ‘missing the woods for the trees’. The Maharashtra government has formed a panel to look complaints into the Maharashtra Mathadi, Hamal and other Manual Workers (Regulation of Employment and Welfare) Act, 1969 (Mathadi Act), after it received complaints from the labour unions representing the Mathadi workers as well as companies.

“The government is hearing grievances on the issue of Section 5 and Section 22 of the Act. However, what they need to do is amend Section 2 of the Mathadi Act to specify clearly which industries should hire Mathadi workers and which industries needn’t.

If this is not mentioned, all companies are forced to employ Mathadis,” said Anant Sardeshmukh , director general of the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce Industries and Agriculture (MACCIA).

The Mathadis transport goods on their heads. Fearing that they would lose their livelihood, the state had implemented an Act to ensure companies hire such labourers for loading and unloading of goods.

The Act has, however, proved to be a heartburn as many companies call it an act of ‘extortion sanctioned by the government’, simply because even if companies have their own workers, they are still forced to employ Mathadis to transport goods.

Sardeshmukh acknowledges that while the Act was meant to safeguard Mathadi workers’ rights, it has run counterproductive to what the government had wanted.

“The state wanted to fight unemployment, but in this case, it directly affects hiring. I have my employees to do the job of transportation, but I can’t use them to transport the goods because it has to be done by the Mathadis -- so obviously I would cut down on hiring,” explained Sardeshmukh.

Other industry representatives too complained of how they could not take any action against the workers for nonperformance as they are not answerable to them but to a Mathadi board constituted by the state government.

“It’s a normal occurrence that if you call 10 Mathadi workers to do a job, they would send 20. Under the rules, I have to pay 10 additional workers even if they don’t work at all,” said an official from a manufacturing unit in Pune.