Punjab: Future of rice mill workers and employees uncertain

Punjab: Labourers and employees working in the rice mills of the region are apprehensive about an uncertain future due to the paddy crisis. They (labourers and employees) have urged their employers to ensure that the milling work does not stop due to the issue of paddy procurement and storage space. Expressing concern over the interests of their employees and labourers, the rice mill owners of the region have announced that they will make their efforts to keep their plants running even in adverse circumstances. The migrant labourers, led by district president of the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) Parmeshwar Pal, alleged that due to the political tussle between the Centre and the Punjab government, a situation has arisen that the rice mill owners have started showing inability to run their mills as per the changed rice policy. Pal said, “Having suffered due to the faulty policies of the Centre regarding paddy procurement and processing during the last few years, thousands of labourers working in the rice mills have started feeling insecure about their future.” The rice mill owners lamented that the governments did not bother to understand that the rice sheller industry has emerged as a leading sector providing employment to lakhs of youth including residents and migrants of Punjab. “Unfortunately, no government has bothered to recognise our industry as a platform to improve the lives of lakhs of families dependent on our employees and labourers,” said Sanjeev Somi, a rice mill owner from the region. Somi argued that the amount of work allotted to a particular rice mill does not only decide the profitability of the owners but it also ultimately affects the income of labourers who are remunerated as per the work allotted and completed. “Since we are not in a position to hire permanent and regular workers, we have to hire contract workers who are paid at a rate per bag.

Not only the number of consignments allotted to a rice mill but also the speed of allocation affects the income of contract workers,” Somi said. Rice mill owner Vijay Kakaria said mill owners had to run their mills to protect the interests of labourers and to prevent wastage of installation charges including fixed charges levied by Punjab State Electricity Corporation Limited and other departments. “Since most rice mill owners have paid labourers in advance and have to pay fixed charges, they cannot shut down their machines,” Kakaria said. He lamented that rice mill owners in the state had to follow the same policy as Haryana but had to face adverse circumstances. Kakaria alleged that electricity, which is the main input, was three times costlier in Punjab than in Haryana.