Entitled to paid weekly off, maternity, paternity leaves
Bivek Mathur
JAMMU, Feb 26: The Union Territory Administration of Ladakh has extended to its Daily Rated Workers (DRWs) the selected benefits outlined in the Department of Personnel and Training’s (DoPT) Consolidated Guidelines on Casual Workers (CWs).
This decision followed a report by a fact-finding committee that identified approximately 1900 DRWs working across various departments of the Union Territory.
As per an order issued by the Finance Department of the UT, these benefits, which are aimed at improving the working conditions of DRWs, will take effect from January 1, 2024, although the financial benefits will be implemented from the 2025-26 fiscal year, starting from April 1, 2025.
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This order claimed that the DRWs who perform duties identical to regular employees will receive a payment equal to 1/30th of the pay at the minimum of the relevant pay scale, along with dearness allowance, for 8 hours of work per day.
In cases where the nature of the work differs from that of a regular employee, DRWs will only be paid the minimum wages specified by the Labour & Employment Department, the order said.
Furthermore, the order said, the DRWs will be entitled to one paid weekly off after six consecutive working days, and they will also be compensated for public holidays that fall on a regular workday.
However, payments will be made only for actual workdays, including the weekly off, it said.
Additionally, it has been clarified that the benefits outlined in the DoPT’s Consolidated Guidelines on Casual Workers CWs are available to only those DRWs who have worked continuously for at least 10 years and have rendered a minimum of 240 days of service per year, or 206 days for departments that observe a 5-day workweek, as of January 1, 2025.
“DRWs will also be eligible for pro-rata wages based on their years of service, with annual increments taken into account for calculating wages. The pay scale will be adjusted at regular intervals, with periodic groupings for 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, and 25 years of engagement,” the order said.
In addition, the order said, the DRWs in Ladakh will be granted maternity leave similar to that available to regular Class-IV employees.
Paternity leave for a period of 15 days will also be allowed to DRWs who have fewer than two surviving children, payable at the rate of the wages drawn immediately before proceeding on leave, it said.
The order further stated that the leave entitlement for DRWs will be credited biannually on January 1 and July 1, with one day of leave for every 10 days of work.
However, there will be no encashment of leave upon termination of service or voluntary resignation, it clarified.
The order further made it clear that the benefits apply exclusively to those DRWs who have been enrolled through the Aadhar-based biometric identification and skill profiling process, as per Government Order No. 126-F of 2016.
It specifically excluded part-time workers, seasonal workers, those engaged on consolidated remuneration, or workers hired under specific schemes like ReK, NYC, ICDS, and MDMS.
Workers engaged after the ban on DRWs in 2015 are also ineligible for these benefits, clarified the order.
While the Finance Department order offered much-needed support to DRWs, it explicitly stated that the beneficiary DRWs will not be granted temporary status, regularization, or a permanent position within the administration.
“They may be removed from service at the discretion of the concerned department head in case of misconduct or violations of service conditions,” said the order. As per the Finance Department of the UT, the number of DRWs may vary following further verification by the departments, as the 1900 figure is based on the initial fact-finding committee report.
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