62 SOCIAL SCIENTIST
he is unceremoniously thrown out. While still young, he is on the go all the time, away from the home and family, putting in from 12 to 18 hours a day, travelling, waiting at customers9 premises and preparing lengthy reports. He has to trudge long distances with a heavy 'doctor's' kit-bag loaded with literature, samples, and other promotional aids. He has to Jkeep his tie tight round the buttoned-up stiff collar, even under the midday sun.
Technical knowledge of a high calibre is called for in interpreting the various molecular manipulations of the pharmaceutical houses to the medical profession. Unaided, the medical representative has to do all the clerical and manual slog connected with sales.
The service conditions of the field workers are not governed by any rules. Facilities normal for workmen in the firms^ factories and offices are not for them to enjoy. There is no legal protection against victimization. Most of them have no right to a bonus (under the act of 1965) on the pretext of the incentive commission which is earned by the few. There is no dearness allowance linked with the consumer price index, no annual increments, leave facilities or medical benefits. The employers have successfully flouted the statutory obligations of provident fund and gratuity for the field staff. On top of it all, the fundamental right of collective bargaining is not theirs after all these years of independence.
Towards Organisation
He who raises his voice about grievances is under the threat of losing his job. If a medical representative turns up tieless and suitless, it hurts the firm's public image and he is immediately fired. But appearances are most deceptive. In fact, a tie which cost Rs 5 ten years ago is priced at Rs 50 today while the representative's wages have remained static. If one asks for an improved wage structure and'service conditions, one will gee the prompt reply from the higher-ups: ^You are all non-bargainable category and the law of the land does not recognize \ou as a workman."
Against ihis background, the field workers have been forced to renounce their rugged individualism and forge unity for the sake of enhancing bargaining power. The first steps in this collective move were joint appeals submitted to government and management. These appeals predictably made their way direct to the wastepaper baskets in the air-conditioned executive cabins.
Many field workers who challenged the unfair anti-employee practices were hounded out. Victimization, however, produced the very opposite effect to what the employers expected. It created an awareness of realities, a need for unionization and an urge for identity. A concentrated move was. taken by the associations of field workers to represent their case more strongly to the governmental authorities. Except for verbal assurances from successive labour ministers, no suitable amendment to the Industrial Disputes Act was forthcoming and the non-applicability of the