An Expert panel appointed by the Narnedra Modi government on has suggested for a increase in the minimum wage rate. The committee has pegged the national wage rate for farm and unskilled labour at ₹375 per day, which is ₹54 higher then the current minimum wage set by the government. Also the current minimum wage for skilled labour was at ₹371 per day.
The new panel has decided the new minimum wage based on a new approach. Earlier wage rate fluctuated with many factors like Skills, sector and location. The new panel has now recommended a minimum wage for labour based on a “Balanced diet” approach.
Apart from the minimum wage the expert committee has recommended an additional ₹55 as extra allowance for rent. This extra allowance will be given to urban workers only.
Ministry of Labour and Employment appointed a committee to suggest new ways possible to calculate the minimum wage back in January 2017. The committee was chaired by Anoop Satpathy. The committee has finally submitted its report to the labour ministry.
Among its other recommendations, it also suggested for the assessment of the consumption basket in every five years, to negate the effect of inflation and other factors which affect standard of living.
The report has recommended to fix the national minimum wage for India at ₹375 per day or ₹9,750 per month as of July 2018, irrespective of sectors, occupations, skills and rural-urban locations for a family, the labour ministry said.
The report to increase the national minimum wage comes just before the general elections 2019 and can have a huge impact on the upcoming elections. As a major part of population will be benefited if government accepts the new recommendations.