- (1.) This is a representative action brought on behalf of the Contract Labourers, working with the Food Corporation of India, the first respondent in the writ petition, distressed by the unhelpful attitude of both the Central and the State Governments in not redressing their grievances for either departmentalising them or in the alternative .extending to them the benefit of the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970 (for short 'The Act'). The petitioners' complaint is that the Central and the State Governments play hide and seek, one pointing to the other as the appropriate Government under the provisions of the Act and thus denying to them what is their due.
(2.) The first respondent is the Food Corporation of India (hereinafter called 'The Corporation'); the second respondent: Union of India the third respondent : Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) and respondent 4 to 22, various State Governments. The Corporation has been entrusted by the second respondent with the duty of procuring food grains and its movement and distribution throughout the country. The corporation employs for the discharge of this work three types of labourers : (1) departmentalised labour who are its regular employees; (2) direct paid labour; and (3) contract labour who are employed by the Corporation, through the intermediary of contractors. The petitioners have been trying to pursuade the Corporation for progressive departmentalisation of its labour. They, however, did not succeed. Their grievance is that even the limited benefits available to them under the provisions of the Act have not been extended to them. By this writ petition they pray, for a writ of mandamus either to the Union Government or to the State Governments, to extend to them the benefits of the Act, for a direction to the Corporation to pay them the same wages as are paid to the departmentalised tabour and ,for other reliefs.
(3.) In a detailed counter-affidavit, the Corporation has pleaded that the appropriate Government for the purpose of the claims of the petitioners is the State Government and not the Central Government, and that it is not practicable for the Corporation to employ the labour whom the petitioner represents as departmental tabour since the nature of the operations are seasonal, sporadic and varied from region to region, that the work of the Corporation fluctuates in volume at different places and at different points depending upon the procurement, movement and off-take of food grains. It is further stated that it is not easy for abolition of Contract tabour employed by the Corporation since other like organisations connected with the Government of India also employ contract labourers and hence abolition of contract labour cannot be considered in isolation for the Corporation alone. Among the State Governments, the 15th respondent (the State of Madhya Pradesh) and the 21st respondent (the State of Punjab). have filed their respective counter-affidavits.;