மத்திய அரசு இந்தியா முழுமைக்கான தேசிய அடி நிலை குறைந்தளவு ஊதியத்தை (NFLMW) ரூ 115/- லிருந்து ரூ137/- ஆக 1.7.2013 முதல் முன் நாளிட்டு உயர்த்தி அதன் இணைய பக்கத்தில் வெளியிட்டுள்ளது
இது குறித்து தமிழ் நாடு அரசின் ''உழைப்பவர் உலகம்'' மாத இதழில் வெளியான செய்தி வருமாறு..
பக்கம்-24
மத்திய அரசு இந்தியா முழுமைக்கான தேசிய அடி நிலை குறைந்தளவு ஊதியத்தை (NFLMW) ரூ 115/- லிருந்து ரூ137/- ஆக 1.7.2013 முதல் முன் நாளிட்டு உயர்த்தி அதன் இணைய பக்கத்தில் வெளியிட்டுள்ளது.
அதன் முழு பகுதி வருமாறு......
MINIMUM WAGES ACT, 1948
Backqrgund
x The initiative started with the resolution placed by one Shri. K. G. R.
Choudhary in 1920 for setting up Boards for determination of minimum
wages in each industry.
* The International Labour Conference adopted in 1928 Convention No.26
and Recommendation No. 30 relating to wage fixing machinery in trades or
parts of trades.
x On the recommendation of the Standing Labour Committee and
Indian Labour Conference, a Labour Investigation Committee was
appointed in 1943 to investigate into the question of wages and other
matters like housing, social conditions and employment.
* A draft bill was considered by
the Indian Labour Conference in 1945'
x The 8th meeting of the standing Labour committee recommended in
1946 to enact a separate
legislation for the unorganized sector including
working hours,
minimum wages and paid holidays.
x A Minimum Wages Bill was introduced in the Central Legislative
Assembly on LL.4.46 to Provide for fixation of minimum wages in certain
employments. It was Passed in
15.3.48.
1946 and came into force with effect from
Under the Act, Central and State Governments are appropriate
Governments to
(a) notify scheduled emPloyment
(b) fixlrevise minimum wages
The Act contains list of all these employments for which minimum wages
are to be fixed by the appropriate Governments'
There are two parts of the Schedule. Part I has non-agricultural
"*pfLV."ntt
whereas Part-II relates to employment in
agriculture'
Criteria for notification of scheduled emolovment
Under the provisions of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, both Central and
State Governments
are appropriate Governments to fix, review and revise
the minimum wages of the workers employed in the scheduled
employments under their respective jurisdictions. The appropriate
Governments have also been empowered to notify any employment in the
schedule where the number of employees is 1000 or more and fix the
rates of minimum wages in respect of the employees employed therein.
There are 45 scheduled employments in the Central Sphere while in the
State Sphere the number of such employments is as many as 1679'
The Minimum Wages Act does not provide for any discrimination between
male and female workers or different minimum wages for them. All the
provisions of the Act equally apply to both male and female workers.
Norms for fixation / revision of minimum waqes
The norms include those which were recommended by the Indian Labour
Conference in its session held in 1957'
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
consumption units
for one earner.
Minimum food requirements of 2700 calories per average Indian
adult.
Clothing
requirements of 72 yards per annum per family'
Rent corresPonding to
Government's
Industrial
the minimum area provided for under
Housing Scheme.
(e)Fuel,lightingandothermiscellaneousitemsofexpenditureto
constitute,20olo of the total Minimum Wages'
Methods for fixation/revision of minimum waqes Fixation
Section 3 empowers appropriate Government to fix the minimum rates of
wages in the scheduled employments.
Revision
Revise the Minimum rates at an appropriate interval
five years.
Procedure for Fixation / Revision
In Section 5 of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, two
been provided for fixation/revision of minimum wages. They
method and
Notification method.
Committee Method
not exceeding
Under this method, committees and sub-committees are set up by
appropriate Governments to hold enquiries and make recommendations
regard to fixation and revision of minimum wages, as the case may
Notification method
In this method, Government proposals are published in the official
Gazette for information of the persons likely to be affected thereby and
specify a date not less than two months from the date of the notification on
which the proposals will be taken into consideration.
After considering advice of the committees/sub-committees and all
methods have
are Committee
the
with
be.
the representations received by the
the appropriate Government shall,
fixlrevise the minimum wage in
employment and it shall come Into
the date of its issue.
specified date in Notification method,
by notification in the Official Gazette,
respect of the concerned scheduled
force on expiry of three months from
Variable Dearness Allowance (VDA)
In order to protect the minimum wages against inflation, the Central
Government has made provision of Variable Dearness Allowance (VDA)
linked to Consumer Price Index Number for Industrial Workers (CPI - IW).
As regards States Governments/Union Territory Administrations, 26 of
them have made VDA as a component of minimum wages. Both Central
and State Governments are revising the minimum wages in respect of
these scheduled employments from time to time with 100o/o neutralization.
Accordingly, VDA is revised periodically twice a year effective from 1st April
and 1st October in the Central Sphere.
Enforcement
The enforcement of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 is secured at two
levels. While in the Central Sphere, the enforcement is secured through the
Inspecting officers .of the Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) commonly
designated as Industrial Relations Machinery
(CIRM), the compliance in the
State Sphere is ensured through the State Enforcement Machinery. They
conduct regular inspections and in the event of detection of any case of
non-payment or under-payment of minimum wages, they advise the
employers to make payment of the shortfall of wages. In case of noncompliance,
penal provisions
prescribed in the Act are taken recourse to.
National Floor Level Minimum Waoe
In order to have a uniform wage
structure and to reduce the
disparity in minimum wages across the country, a concept of National Floor
Level Minimum Wage was mooted on the basis of the recommendations of
the National Commission on Rural Labour (NCRL) in 1991. Keeping in view
the recommendation of NCRL and subsequent rises in price indices, the
National Floor
Level Minimum Wage was fixed at Rs.35/- per day in 1996.
Keeping in view the rise in Consumer Price Index the Central Government
raised the National Floor Level Minimum wage to Rs.40l- per day in 1998.
Further to Rs.45l- w.e.f.01.12.1999 and Rs. 50/- per day w.e.f'
01.09.2002.
Based on the norms suggested by the Working Group and its acceptance
by the Central Adv,isory Board subsequently in its meeting held on
1g.72.2003, the National Floor Level Minimum Wage was revised upwards
to Rs.66l- per day with effect from 1.02.2004. on the basis of increase in
the Consumer Price Index, the Central
Government further revised the
National Floor Level Minimum Wages to Rs.137l- per day with effect from
01.07.2013.
It is, however, clarified that the National Floor Level Minimum Wage,
is a non-statutory measure to ensure upward revision of minimum wages
in different in States/UT's. Thus, the State Governments are persuaded to
fix minimum wages such that in none of the scheduled employments, the
minimum wage is less than National Floor
Level Minimum Wage. This
method has helped in reducing disparity among different rates of minimum
wages to some extent.
To sum up, effective implementation of the Minimum Wages Act,
1948, including that of the revision of minimum wages at national floor
level minimum wage or higher; which primarily falls in the State sphere, is
assiduously
pursued by us through discussion, writing letters, personal
interaction and visits to states, including the North-Eastern states. The
state Governments are regularly asked to fix and revise minimum wages in
scheduled employments to be at least at par with National Floor Level
Minimum wage of Rs.137l- per day as at present. what they actually do is
in keeping with their respective paying capacity.
