Govt preparing its submission to SC on minimum wage: Rai
Nearly 7,000 suggestions have come so far from the people, says Minister
NEW DELHI: Delhi government formed 34-member minimum wage board which also got approval from the L-G is preparing its submission to the Supreme Court on January 31. "The board of 34 members among which 15 are representatives of employees, 15 from various trade unions, two independent candidates and two officials of the labour department," said labour minister Gopal Rai. He also said that on January 28 the board will hold its second meeting to prepare the submission to Supreme Court. "From November to January we have taken suggestions from the people and nearly 7,000 suggestions have come," said Rai.
The Labour Department, headed by Cabinet Minister Gopal Rai, had in November last year proposed new minimum wages for all contractual workers in the national Capital. The government has sought suggestions, views, inputs and comments on the proposed minimum wages till January 11. "The board will take into consideration the suggestions, views, inputs and comments and advise the government in respect of fixing and revising minimum rates of wages for different categories of workers," the official said. As per the proposed plan, unskilled labour will get a minimum wage of Rs 14,842 per month, a semi-skilled worker would get Rs 16,341 and a skilled worker Rs 17,991.
With widespread flouting of minimum wage norms in several government and private establishments, the Delhi government earlier in December asked its department heads to enforce the minimum wage law for workers in their respective industries. During its 10-day-long 'Operation Minimum Wage' undertaken during December 10-21, the Labour Ministry found several workplaces not complying with the minimum wage law by either not paying the wages on time, paying fewer wages, or taking the money back once transferred into the bank account.
The violations noticed during the drive included late payment of salary, employers taking back the money from the worker after transferring it into his account and keeping the passbook and signed bank chequebooks of workers.
In October last year, the Supreme Court asked the Delhi government to undertake a fresh exercise to determine minimum wages for employees of private organisations. A bench led by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi prima facie found fault with the decision-making process that led to a revision in the minimum wages notified in March 2017. The bench was hearing Delhi government's appeal against the High Court order that quashed the notification.
