தேசிய அடி நிலை குறைந்தளவு ஊதியம் உயர்வு-2015

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.