Bamboo in Orissa: Trade and Livelihood Perspective - Vasundhara

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Replacement of the labour contractor system: factors responsible
Various explanations are available to explain the replacement of labour contractor(LC)
system by the RMP one. These do not agree with each other, but seem to do better when
taken simultaneously, as under:
• The paper mills found the term derogatory as they were actually not contractors,
but industrial consumers of bamboo(per comm.., A.K.Sharda, JK Paper). Hence,
the term Raw Material Procurer was fund suitable. Otherwise, the responsibilities
were same in both the cases, and the LCs/RMPs were responsible for the cutters.
• There was no provision to ensure that the ‘contractors’ would not violate the
minimum daily wage(mdw) policy of the govt although mdw had been fixed. The
contractors were at liberty to pay whatever wage to the cutters the advantage of
which certainly benefited them causing exploitation of the cutters. Hence, some of
the OFDC staff, who earlier belonged to JK forest employees union, raised
objection against it(per comm.., Ramachandra Bakshipatra).
• The labour contractor system was first implemented on experimental basis with
signs of failure. For instance, in Rairakhol Divn.(OFDC) only one sub-division
was allotted to the concerned labour contractor; but the company did not develop
the forest road adequately, making the roads unsuitable for the transit of heavily
loaded trucks. It was soon evident that the system would not be able to achieve
more than one-fourth of the target, and hence OFDC had to adopt some viable
alternative (per comm.., Prahlad Nayak).
However, study of the agenda notes prepared for the 19th meeting of the Emp. Committee
revealed that the paper mills did refrain themselves from executing the agreement with the
govt particularly because they wanted the term 'labour contractor' to be replaced by 'raw
material procurer', and also a hike in the working cost, that was to be paid to them by the
govt, to Rs.500/SU.
However, OFDC was merely an instrument of the politicians in power who were reportedly
under the influence of the paper mill owners. All the decisions were actually taken by the
Empowered Committee which was not always obliged to consider OFDC’s interest. Hence,
as some responsible officers of the Corporation confessed in private, the RMPs were
allowed to flourish at the cost of OFDC's genuine interests. For instance, they (OFDC
officers) allege that the share which the Corporation was allowed in the price to be realised
on the sale of IB, was much less than what it actually deserved; and that the mills used
OFDC's stockyards without any hiring charges.However, Prasanna Behera, leader of
Tikarpada Baunshakatali Shramika Sangathana, says that for the cutters of Satkoshia
area(Angul Divn.) both the systems(LC and RMP) had no practical differences.
Some earnest officers of the Corporation think that the govt could have easily forced the
mills to take the bamboo produced inside the state, on priority basis. They argue that in
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