Port and dock workers in the country are gearing up for a prolonged indefinite action to meet their long pending demands which included implementation of settlements, wage revision with effect from January 1, 2022 as well as honoring earlier assurances given by the government.
As part of the action plan, the national co-ordination committee of five recognised federations in the major ports will be observing a token strike on April 5 to protect the privileges, legally entitled benefits, said P.M.Mohammed Haneef, general convenor of the committee.
Concern over new MPA Act
The committee has expressed serious concern on the enforcement of the Major Port Authorities Act, 2021 by repealing Major Port Trust Act, 1963. The Government had stated that the intention behind the introduction of MPA Act, 2021 is to provide more autonomy and transparency in the management of major ports. However, The coordination committee strongly believes that the intention of the present enactment is to convert the major ports as companies and subsequently entrust it to the hands of private cartels as has been done in the cases of several PSU’s, Haneef said.
India has, at present, 16 container terminals including the one owned and managed by the JNPT Port Authority. The 15 private terminals handled 91.46 lakh of TEUs whereas the JNPT Container Terminal handled 4.67 lakh TEUs 2020–21. The total cargo handled by the major ports in 2020–21 was 672.68 million tonnes and non-major ports were 577.12 million tonnes. The workforce in major ports has declined to 23,193 employees compared to 25,977 in 2019–20. The major ports had achieved a net surplus of ₹4,126.10 crore in 2020-21. In total, both major ports and non-major ports together utilised only 50 per cent of the available capacity.
Haneef pointed out that the intention of the government to create more infrastructure in the port sector is having no logic. The non-major ports attained 577.12 million tonnes cargo because of the total patronage and support of the Government. While, the major ports without any special consideration from the Government and even by sacrificing their income for the benefits of the private terminals gained the achievement of utilising about 50 per cent of the handling capacity and contributed ₹4,126.10 crore to the exchequer.
Seeks labour representations on the board
The committee has also raised serious concern over the non-appointment of labour representatives in the Authority Board despite the consent given by the Shipping Ministry as well as Indian Ports Management in this regard. No discussions have been initiated by the Bipartite Wage Negotiation Committee on the revision of existing wages and other service conditions of Group C and D employees effective January 1, 2022.
Among the monetisation proposals of the Government, Haneef said 31 projects in major ports amounting to ₹14,483 crore proposed to be monetised in a span of 4 years from 2021 to 2024–25. The Government claimed that they have aimed for the creation of additional berths, mechanisation, development, oil jetties and container berths. However, the proposal in the pipeline would further demolish the public asset structure and ownership of Indian major ports by handing it over to national/transnational corporate entities, he alleged.