Parliament Question: Disparity in Remuneration of Regular and Contractual Employees

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2603 TO BE ANSWERED ON 09.03.2026 DISPARITY IN REMUNERATION OF REGULAR AND CONTRACTUAL EMPLOYEES 2603. SHRI RAJEEV RAI: Will the Minister of LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT be pleased to state: (a)the manner of determining the salary and other allowances for regular employees, class and post-wise and the way to determine the pay and allowances for employees engaged on contract basis performing same work and duties; (b)the details of the grade-wise number of regular employees and employees engaged on contract basis in each Nav Ratna Company; and (c)the reasons for discrepancy in the pay and perks of regular employees and contractual employees? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SUSHRI SHOBHA KARANDLAJE) (a) to (c): The salaries and allowances of regular employees are determined through different mechanisms depending on the sector of employment. For government employees, pay and allowances are fixed based on the recommendations of Pay Commissions. In Public Sector Enterprises, pay and allowances are determined through Pay Revision Committees. In the private sector, salaries are largely decided through employment contracts, subject to statutory provisions. In so far as employees engaged on contract basis performing same work and duties as the regular employees are concerned, the Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Central Rules, 1971 [Rule 25(2)(v)(a)], stipulates as under: “In cases where the workmen employed by the contractor perform the same or similar kind of work as the workmen directly employed by the principal employer of the establishments, the wage Contd..2/-:: 2 :: rates, holidays, hours of work and other conditions of service of the workmen of the contractor shall be the same as applicable to the workmen directly employed by the principal employer of the establishment on the same or similar kind of work; Provided that in the case of any disagreement with regard to the type of work, the same shall be decided by the Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner (Central).” The provisions of Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act, 1970 have now been subsumed under the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (OSH&WC Code). Further, the rules under the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 have been pre-published. Details of the number of regular employees and contractual/ casual employees of Navratna CPSEs as per Public Enterprise (PE) Survey 2024-25 is enclosed as Annexure. * *****Annexure Annexure referred to in reply of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2603 for 09.03.2026 regarding “Disparity in Remuneration of Regular and Contractual Employees” raised by Hon’ble MP Shri Rajeev Rai. Number of Employees in Navratna CPSEs as per Public Enterprises Survey 2024-25 (as on 31.3.2025) S. Cognate Group/ CPSE Number of Number of No. Regular Contractual/ Grand Total Employees casual Workers (1) (2) (3) (2) + (3) 1 ONGC Videsh Ltd 204 1233 1437 2 National Aluminium Company Ltd 4803 61 4864 3 NMDC Ltd 5677 5319 10996 4 Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd 10943 12487 23430 5 National Fertilizers Ltd 2511 3547 6058 6 Rashtriya Chemical and Fertilizers 2620 2607 5227 Ltd 7 NHPC Ltd 4577 16 4593 8 NLC India Ltd 9767 20434 30201 9 SJVN Ltd 1070 195 1265 10 Central Warehousing Corporation 1841 0 1841 11 Container Corporation of India Ltd 1256 0 1256 12 Shipping Corporation of India Ltd 448 49 497 13 Engineers India Ltd 2636 3 2639 14 Ircon International Ltd 834 242 1076 15 NBCC (India) Ltd 1164 77 1241 16 Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd 333 577 910 17 RITES Ltd 1793 921 2714 18 Solar Energy Corporation of India 154 103 257 Ltd 19 Indian Railway Catering and 1338 1401 2739 Tourism Corporation Ltd. 20 Housing & Urban Development 619 48 667 Corporation Ltd. 21 Indian Railway Finance Corporation 44 4 48 Ltd. 22 Indian Renewable Energy Devt. 166 71 237 Agency Ltd. 23 Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. 3031 5 3036 24 Railtel Corporation India Ltd. 567 2073 2640 25 Bharat Electronics Ltd. 8844 11342 20186 26 Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd. 2657 9296 11953 *****