NATIONAL FLOOR LEVEL MINIMUM WAGE INCREASED
The minimum floor level wage has been raised
by five rupees at the national level to Rs. 50 per day. The Labour
Minister Dr. Sahib Singh has written to all state governments
to ensure that no worker is paid less than Rs. 50 per day as the
minimum wage in scheduled employments. He said that the increase
would be effective from 1st September 2002. In the
Central government, the number of scheduled employments is 45
whereas in the state sphere their number is 1232.
The National Floor Level Minimum Wage of Rs.
35 was fixed in 1996 on the recommendations of the National Commission
on Rural Labour (1991). It was increased to Rs.40 in August 1998
when the Prime Minister urged all state governments to ensure
that the minimum wage is not less than Rs. 40 in scheduled employments.
The National Floor Level Minimum Wage was subsequently raised
to Rs. 45 in November 1999.
Under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, the appropriate
governments are required to revise the minimum wages in all scheduled
employments under their respective jurisdiction at an interval
not exceeding five years. In order to protect the minimum wages
against inflation, the concept of linking it to the rise in the
Consumer Price Index was recommended at the Labour Ministers’
Conference in 1988. Since then the concept of Variable Dearness
Allowance (VDA) linked to the Consumer Price Index has been floated.
The VDA is revised twice in a year in April and October. The Central
government has already made provision in respect of all Scheduled
employments in he Central sphere whereas 22 states/UTs have adopted
VDA as a component of minimum wage.
The minimum wages for unskilled workers in the
Central sphere varies from Rs. 54.27 to Rs. 129.93 (including
VDA) and for agricultural workers from Rs.86.63 to Rs 129.93 per
day. In case of different states/UTs it varies from Rs.19.25 to
Rs.165.78 (including VDA), and for agricultural workers from Rs.19.25
to Rs 102.
In absence of any criteria stipulated for fixing
the minimum wage in the Minimum Wages Act, the Indian Labour Conference
in 1957 said that the following norms should be taken into account
while fixing the minimum wage. These are (a) three consumption
units per earner, (b) minimum food requirement of 2700 calories
per average Indian adult, (c) cloth requirement of 72 yards per
annum per family. (d) rent corresponding to the minimum area provided
for under Government’s Industrial Housing Scheme an (e) fuel,
lighting and other miscellaneous items of expenditure to constitute
20% of the total minimum wage. The Supreme Court in a historic
judgement in 1992 said that children’s education, medical requirement,
minimum recreation including festivals, ceremonies, provision
for old age, marriage etc should further constitute 25% and used
as a guide for fixing the minimum wage.
