Bhopal: Flying in the face of Supreme Court, government colleges in the city are not extending EPF benefits to its contractual employees, while their counterparts in private colleges are enjoying all benefits and allowances. Supreme Court in one of its observation had said that the principle of equal pay for equal work would be applicable to all the concerned temporary employees.
However, the contractual employees of the governmental degree colleges and universities here are being discriminated against as far as their salaries and other allowances are concerned. Contractual employees at governmental degree colleges, hired under public participation Scheme, are not being provided Employees Provident Fund.
On the other hand contractual employees in the private degree colleges and working as third party employees in these governmental colleges and varsities are getting all the benefits. There are around 200 such employees in the city and around 6,000 in the state, who are denied EPF benefits.
Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice Khekhar in October 2016 had observed, “In our considered view, it is fallacious to determine artificial parameters to deny fruits of labour. An employee engaged for the same work, cannot be paid less than another, who performs the same duties and responsibilities. Certainly not, in a welfare state. Such an action besides being demeaning, strikes at the very foundation of human dignity.”
Further it said, “There can be no doubt, that the principle of equal pay for equal work would be applicable to all the concerned temporary employees, so as to vest in them the right to claim wages, at par with the minimum of the pay-scale of regularly engaged government employees, holding the same post.”
One of the contractual employees of the Nutan College told Free Press that he has been working at the institution for over 20 years but still he is being paid around Rs 10000 per month at collector rate. “ No provident fund is being given to us. We have complained to the Employee Provident Fund office many a times and even submitted a memorandum regarding it in July 2016. But, no one paid any attention to our complaint,” he said.
The contractual employees of the Excellence College of the city were provided arrears of around Rs 40 lakh against PF. But, the employees in other colleges have not given any such arrears. Even the Excellence College administration increased the salary of its employee by two times to save itself from giving them PF benefit. These employees belong to grade-C and grade-D categories.
Additional Director Sushma Dubey when contacted refused to comment on the matter saying that she deals with private colleges and there each and every employees were getting provident fund benefit.
