Comments on: Married to Exploitation

By: Dr. Rajen Mehrotra

Dr. Rajen Mehrotra — Sat, 30 May 2026 12:08:14 +0000

Dear Vivek,

You have excellently brought out the plight of the contract workforce with reference to matrimony.

Congratulate you on your efforts at visiting , collecting and disseminating the information.

Regads,
Dr. Rajen Mehrotra

By: Kavi Arasu

Kavi Arasu — Tue, 26 May 2026 02:55:07 +0000

The marriage angle makes visible what was already there.

A man who can’t build a life on his income is not just economically precarious. The girls aren’t being unreasonable. They’re reading the situation clearly.

Something else is also happening. When survival becomes individual enough, for long enough, people stop looking out for each other. Unions hollowed out. Permanent workers looking away. Contractors standardising exploitation as if it were just market practice.

Nobody’s villain. Everyone’s just protecting themselves. And somehow that produces the same result as malice.

Thank you for another thought provoking piece sir.

By: Vineet Kaul

Vineet Kaul — Sun, 24 May 2026 07:23:54 +0000

Dear Vivek, Thanks for another important piece that brings out the harsh and invisible realities of contract labour with clarity. I see it as not just the economic exploitation—through wage structuring, denial of benefits, and forced overtime—but the systemic normalization of these practices across employers, a worrying institutional apathy. The linkage drawn between precarious employment and the social consequences—housing distress, health risks and inability to find a life partner—is rarely acknowledged so candidly.Equally concerning is the silence of stakeholders—Industry, Unions, and Regulators—who have abdicated responsibility in the name of convenience or competitiveness. Overall, an eye-opener to confront uncomfortable truths about the cost at which Growth and efficiency is often achieved.

By: Vasan

Vasan — Sun, 24 May 2026 00:15:38 +0000

Very TrueSir

I am consulting in the space of contract manufacturing, and constantly engage with Contractors and Parent companies to provide good facilities

I have been able to achieve the following in many places
1. Minimum wages
2. Rooms with common kitchen & gas cylinders / wood {now} !!! and basic provisions {but rooms as you described}
3. Transport from place of stay
4. Payment on attendance and if present for 25/ 26 days a month, an additional day’s wages, as attendance bonus.

I felt this is the least I can do for our workmen brothers

I have met contractors who fight for this with the parent companies

It’s OK for the companies to earn an EBITA of 1 % less

By: Joseph George A

Joseph George A — Sat, 23 May 2026 22:00:35 +0000

It is a larger desensitisation than the demographic in focus. Administrative achievement comes at the cost of the powerless and marginalised. Beyond the industrial sector, it is likely that service sectors in rural economies, tribal hunter-gatherers and other unorganised trades face unknowns and unnamed struggles. Public monies are increasingly going toward private benefit. https://medium.com/@donthinreddy/roads-built-for-the-few-urban-inequity-284d5d13f03e

By: Rajan Lakshmanan

Rajan Lakshmanan — Sat, 23 May 2026 16:09:09 +0000

Well articulated Vivek. Neither Political leaders nor the government is seized with the gravity of the situation. Contract workers situation seems to be worse than other low grade gig workers such as drivers, plumbers?

By: Jyoti Warde

Jyoti Warde — Sat, 23 May 2026 08:53:17 +0000

Insightful article. What stayed with me most is that the issue no longer seems limited to wages or contract structures — it is about whether workers can realistically build a stable and dignified adult life.

A burning question for me is: Is it possible to push through even 3 immediate changes that bring relief without hurting industrial competitiveness?

For example:
1) guaranteed paid sick leave,
2) transport access equal to permanent workers,
3) prohibition of gratuity-reset terminations before 5 years.

None of these seem revolutionary — they seem foundational to dignity of labour.

Which also raises a larger question: if the right to live with dignity is fundamental, then who is ultimately responsible and accountable for ensuring it is upheld — employers, contractors, policymakers, or society collectively?

Would genuinely love to hear your thoughts on this.

By: Daya

Daya — Sat, 23 May 2026 03:54:45 +0000

Great piece, Sir.
the marriage issue is real. Sharing a similar story which I have observed. I know a contract worker. I keep talking to him usually. I got to know that he has not married yet. He is 40+ Reason? Exactly same which you are talking in. last month, after working for 19 years as a contract worker he was hired as a permanent employee here. Now he has started searching for partner. Economically also it is not possible to feed a family of 3 in money you get. That too in areas like Vile Parle. Only reason he could afford living here because his father has a single room in Gandhi Nagar Slum. It is a similar story for couple more. Ones who have family are working overtime or juggling with 2 jobs. I can completely relate to your writing. It is a horrible picture to observe.

By: Vivek Patwardhan

Vivek Patwardhan — Sat, 23 May 2026 03:33:25 +0000

Mr Sunil Sathe commented:
A thought-provoking article. The comparison between contract labour and the changing nature of relationships/marriage highlights a deeper social concern.
In industrial relations also, excessive contractualisation may provide short-term flexibility, but it often dilutes belongingness and loyalty towards the organization.
Perhaps the real challenge before society is balancing rights with responsibilities — whether in employment or in human relationships.
Thanks for sharing.

By: Naganath Subramanian Iyer

Naganath Subramanian Iyer — Sat, 23 May 2026 03:32:54 +0000

Good observational study and well written

However, I wonder, whether the union leadership has absolved itself of its responsibilty. What are they doing? Why did they allow a dual labour regime inside the factory? Labour exploitation did not emerge in a vacuum. It expanded because unions failed in fighting for them. Unions behaved opportunistically. All of them looked the other way.
Actually it is not the absence of union leadership, it is about the collapse of union leadership.
The “extra legal means” may be the consequence but labour gains do not come out of militancy.
The issue about marriage is provocative but what have unions done in maintaining the dignity of contract labour. Zilch and it is declining day by day.
The real truth is that contract labour should organise themselves independently through other institutions like worker cooperatives, NGOs, other related networks, since trade unions have become obsolete.
In fact, the permanent workers and their unions have normalised exploitation by taking symbolic positions.

Nothing can replace the real union leadership and that requires service, sacrifice, gumption and a mission to make a difference.

By penning the above, I am in no way saying that the Managements, governments and others are acting in the interests of the contract labour. They too have turned a blind eye and a deaf ear, and abdicates their responsibilities.

Sad but painful.

Just a few early morning thoughts….