PADIYUR SARVODAYA SANGH Vs. UNION OF INDIA UOI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE only question that arises out of all the above writ petitions is whether the artisans engaged by Sarvodaya Sanghs are governed by the provisions of Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 or not? In the light of the only common issue, all the writ petitions are being disposed of by the following common order.

(2.) THE petitioners, all Sarvodaya Sanghs, have approached this Court to issue a writ of mandamus to the respondents to forbear from implementing the provisions of Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952, against the respective petitioner in each case so far as it is concerned with the artisans engaged by them.

(3.) FOR the convenience, I shall refer the case of the petitioner in W. P. No. 3292 of 1997. It is stated that Sarvodaya Sangh was founded by Mahatma Gandhi with an object to provide job opportunities to the poor and downtrodden people and to improve Khadi and Village Industries. The Central Government has promulgated an Act, namely, Act VI of 1956 under which Khadi and Village Industries Commission was established. All the Sarvodaya Sanghs in Tamil Nadu are units under Khadi and Village Industries Commission (hereinafter referred to as KVIC) which is an establishment to promote Khadi and Village Industries production and sales activities by providing financial and technical assistance to the institutions and artisans engaged in these activities. The Sangh has already enrolled their monthly paid staff under the Provident Funds Act. There are several artisans earning their livelihood by self employment through the Sangh. They are home workers, working without any duty hour, without any supervisor or compulsion about their attendance or duration of work. They are self employed people. A section of these artisans purchase their raw materials from the Sangh and sell their finished products to the Sangh. Another section of these artisans who, due to their financial position, could not pay for raw materials, are provided with raw materials by the Sangh itself and the Sangh collected their finished products and raw materials. The payment will vary from day-to-day and week to week. There will not be any uniformity in either contribution. They are not workers engaged by the Sangh. The question of applicability of the existing labour laws to these Khadi and Village Industries activities are examined by several committees appointed by Government of India. The Sarvodaya Sanghs were exempted from Income Tax Act, Central Sales Tax Act, Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, Employees' State Insurance Act, Tamil Nadu Shops and Establishments Act and Bonus Act, as they are service oriented and are being run on "no profit and no loss" basis. The Sanghs are having schemes, namely, Welfare Scheme and Incentive Scheme which are beneficial to artisans. Both the schemes together contribute about 18-1/3 per cent of their earnings as welfare and incentive. It is remarkable to note that the artisans need not contribute any amount towards the scheme. Thus, it is more beneficial to the artisans when compared to the schemes framed under the Employees' Provident Funds Act. Meanwhile, some of the Sarvodaya Sanghs received notices and letters from the Provident Fund Commissioner to produce files and other records relating to artisans to consider their obligation to contribute towards fund for artisans. However, the recommendations made by various committees are not yet implemented. Those recommendations are not taken note of by the respondents. If it is taken note of, the Sangh would not have received notice or letter for its contribution towards the fund. All the Sarvodaya Sanghs are not independent bodies and they depend on KVIC for financial assistance. Each Sangh is a unit under the KVIC which is an establishment belonging to Central Government. Under Section 16, the application of the provisions of Employees' Provident Funds Act is not feasible, if the unit is an establishment belonging to Central Government. In such circumstances having no other efficacious remedy, the petitioner has filed the present writ petition as stated above.