An expert committee set up by the government has suggested a rise in minimum national wage making it Rs 375 a day, as against the existing rate of Rs 321 for agriculture or unskilled workers and Rs 371 for semi-skilled workers. The recommendations can be seen as the basis for fixing a national minimum wage in the country covering all workers.
Alternatively, there is also a recommendation to set up national minimum wage for five different regions with diverse socio-economic regions.
Region I at Rs 8,892 per month, Region II at Rs 9,880 per month, Region III at Rs 10,764 per month, Region IV at Rs 11,622 per month and Region V at Rs 10,036 per month. The five different regions are-
-
Region I - Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal
-
Region II -Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand
-
Region III -Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu
-
Region IV -Delhi, Goa, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab
-
Region V -Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim, Mizoram and Tripura.
To estimate the minimum wage at regional level, the panel has recommended to use national food basket for all regions instead of estimating regional representative food baskets. It has also been suggested to adopt an approach focused on balanced diet rather than just the calorie intake. 2400 calories, 50 grams of proteins and 30 grams of fats is the minimum recommended intake.
Apart from food requirements, essential non-food requirements such as clothing, fuel and light, house rent, education, medical expenses, footwear and transport must be considered.As per the report, an additional house rent allowance of Rs 1430/month for urban workers above the minimum wage must be given.
The Committee was set by the Ministry of Labor and Employment under the leadership of Anoop Satpathy, in Jan 2017 to recommend ways for calculating minimum wage. The committee submitted its report to the Labor Secretary on Thursday.
