Contract Wages Cannot Be Reduced Arbitrarily On Delegation Of Work: Madhya Pradesh High Court

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has laid down that contract wages cannot be reduced in an arbitrary and illegal manner upon delegation of work in favour of a delegatee. 

Justice Vivek Agarwal passed the order while considering a batch of petitions by employees who had been initially engaged by the respondent-National Health Mission as part of their scheme on various subsidiary jobs.

The Court was informed that the respondent authorities thereafter decided to delegate the services of the petitioners to Rogi Kalyan Samiti and that subsequently, the Rogi Kalyan Samiti decided to outsource the services through a contractor. 

The Court in this case was faced with the twin questions, namely, 

1. Whether National Health Mission is entitled to delegate its work to Rogi Kalyan Samiti and, in turn, whether the Rogi Kalyan Samiti is entitled to sub delegate it to a contractor to provide these ancillary services; 

2. Whether the petitioners are entitled to protection of wages which were contracted with National Health Mission, inasmuch as, they will still be doing the same work as was contracted with the National Health Mission, despite change of principal employer to Rogi Kalyan Samiti or upon further delegation of work to a labour contractor which may be engaged by the Rogi Kalyan Samiti.

As regards the first issue, the Court found merit in the contentions adavanced by the counsel for the respondents that it had been with a view to concentrate on the core health services, that ancillary work was entrusted to the Rogi Kalyan Samiti.

Regarding the second question, the Court was of the considered view that once for the same work, a contract had been entered into between National Health Mission and a particular set of employees either in individual or in a collective capacity and certain wages were decided for doing the said work, during the currency of continuance of the said work, wages could not be adversely affected.

Perusing the communication dated July 27, 2017, by the National Health Mission to the Director, AIIMS, Dean, Medical Colleges, Chief Medical and Health Officers and Civil Surgeons-cum-Chief Hospital Superintendent, Madhya Pradesh, the Court ascertained that the overall control of the National Health Mission had not been delegated in favour of Rogi Kalyan Samiti or the contractor, but that it was only an administrative arrangement whereby Rogi Kalyan Samiti had been given the task of managing subsidiary services so that National Health Mission may concentrate on their core function of providing health services. 

"...there cannot be any reduction of wages on delegation of work to Rogi Kalyan Samiti or sub delegation of work to a contractor and, therefore, respondents have failed to make out a case for reduction of wages for doing the same nature of work for the same duration in the hands of a delegatee or a sub delegatee and, thus, the submission put forth by the respondents that they are entitled to negotiate the wages again, is not made out. They may be in a position to negotiate the wages through Rogi Kalyan Samiti or the contractor only for those who were not engaged earlier by the National Health Mission i.e. a new set of employees who may be engaged by Rogi Kalyan Samiti or the contractor. But as far as those set of employees who were already engaged by the National Health Mission is concerned, there cannot be any reduction of wages," it observed. 

The Court thus held that the petitioners engaged by National Health Mission on a certain set of wages for doing a particular set of work, would be entitled to the same payment of wages or the revised wages, as may be revised by the Collector from time to time for such contractual employees, as was fixed by the National Health Mission during the continuance of that set of work. 

It added that if any deduction was made, the residual amount of deduction would have to be paid to the petitioners within a period of 30 days of receipt of certified copy of the order. 

It also reminded the petitioners not to raise any objection as long as their conditions of service for contract, except for change of the employer, was not altered any further.

The batch of petitions were thus disposed of. 

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (MP) 12 

Case Title: Darvari Singh Sareyam & Ors. v. State of Madhya Pradesh & Ors. and connected matters

Case Number: WRIT PETITION No. 11632 of 2020 and connected matters

Click Here To Read/Download The Order