Minimum wage will be hiked up to 40%, says Rai

Advisory panel will submit its report in a few days, after which a decision will be taken

NEW DELHI, 20/01/2015: Women labourers seen at a construction site, in New Delhi on January 20, 2015. Photo: Sushil Kumar Verma

The minimum wage for Delhi’s working class will be increased by 30 to 40 per cent across all sectors in the Capital, Labour Minister Gopal Rai announced on Friday.

The last revision of minimum wages in the Capital had been undertaken in 1994.

Addressing a press conference, Mr. Rai said a 13-member advisory committee, which was constituted by the Labour Department to revise minimum wages in Delhi this April, will submit its report in the next few days.

Following this, the decision on fixing minimum wages for those across the working class, including unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled workers, will be taken.

“The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has taken this decision after reviewing the average cost incurred by a family on food, accommodation, electricity, clothing and education. We will increase the minimum wages by 30 to 40 per cent in Delhi across all sectors,” he said.

However, Mr. Rai said, the department had been notifying increases in Dearness Allowance (DA) twice in a year – April and October, which is based on All India Consumer Price Index No (CPIN).

Mr. Rai said the government’s move was intended to fulfil its electoral promise and improve the quality of life of labourers in the Capital.

Calculations

The Minister added that the revision of minimum wages was calculated on the basis of cost of various food items, and the requirement of 2,731 calories per worker per day as prescribed by the National Nutrition Institute, Hyderabad.

In addition to food, other components like housing (10 per cent), education (25 per cent), fuel and power (20 per cent) and clothing (72 per cent) which have been decided by Indian Labour Conference-1957, have also been taken into consideration by the committee, Mr. Rai said.

As per existing rules, minimum wage for an unskilled person is Rs. 9,568, Rs. 10,582 for semi-skilled labour and Rs. 11,622 for skilled class in Delhi.

L-G sent back proposal

“The Labour Department had recently sent the proposal to Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung for his nod, but it was sent back to us; he has sought more clarifications,” Mr. Rai said.