The Contract Labour are engaged in the industrial sector by the Government and Private establishments as per their terms of contract and requirement and no centralized data is maintained. However, the estimated number of contract labour engaged by licenced contractors in central sphere including the industrial sector in the last three years is as under:
| Year | No. of contract labour covered by such licences |
| 2009-10 | 13.73lakhs |
| 2010-11 | 14.89 lakhs |
| 2011-12* | 13.07 lakhs |
* Provisional
Engagement of contract labourers is regulated under the Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act, As far as the security in term of wages and other service conditions is concerned, as per the Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Central Rules, 1971 , the wages of the contract labour shall not be less than the rates prescribed under Minimum Wages Act, 1948 and in cases where the contract worker perform the same or similar kind of work as the workmen directly employed by the principal employer of the establishment, the wage rates, holidays , hours of work and other conditions of service shall be the same as applicable to the workmen directly employed by the principal employer doing the same or similar kind of work. The liability to ensure payment of wages and other benefits is primarily that of the contractor and, in case of default, that of the principal employer.
In the central sphere, the Complaints are received in the field offices of Chief Labour Commissioner(Central) Organization under the Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act, 1970, Minimum Wages Act, 1948 and by other laws applicable on contract labour which are investigated and action is taken. Social security aspects of contract workers under Employees Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provision Act, 1952 and Employees State Insurance Act 1948 are enforced by the Employees Provident Fund organization and Employees State Insurance Corporation respectively provided the establishments in which outsourced workers are working are covered under the said Acts. Central Government hasalso prohibited employment of contract labour in various establishments in central sphere through 84 Notifications issued from time to time under the Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act, 1970. To safeguard the interests of the contract labour further in term of wages and social security, a proposal to amend the Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act, 1970 is under consideration of the Government.
The Union Labour & Employment Minister Shri Mallikarjun Kharge gave this information in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.
Source : PIB, August 22, 2012
