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Press Release

Wage code to entitle minimum wage to all 50 crore workers: Secretary, Labour and Employment

Jul 31, 2019


 

 

NEW DELHI, 31 July 2019: Mr Heeralal Samariya, Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India today said that the final passage of wage code bill would entitle the entire 50 crore workforce in India of Minimum Wages.

 

Speaking at AIOE (All India Organisation of Employers) National Award for Outstanding Industrial Relations, 2017-18, organised by FICCI, Mr Samariya said, "Currently, 60% of workers are not covered under the Minimum Wages Act. If the wage code becomes the law of the land, all 50 crore workers in India including agriculture and domestic workers will have a legal right to get minimum wages."

 

Mr Samariya highlighted that apart from ensuring minimum wages, the government is also working to provide life with dignity even after retirement through pension scheme for workers employed in the unorganised sector. India has the world's largest workforce at 50 crore of which only 8% are in the organised sector, he added.

 

"As of today, provident funds, pensions or social security is only available in the organised sector. For unorganised sector workers, government has come out with Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan (PM-SYM) pension scheme, which provides for a minimum assured pension of Rs 3,000 per month to all individuals," he noted.

 

Mr Samariya further highlighted that the scheme is doing well, and government is likely to enroll 10-15 crore workers in the next 2-3 years including 5-6 crore workforce in construction sector. Even agriculture workers and self-employed retailers can be a part of it, he said.

 

Mr Shishir Jaipuria, Vice President, AIOE and CMD, Ginni Filaments Ltd listed down industry's expectations including removal of inherent rigidities in the existing labour laws thereby making them simple, comprehensible and implementable across sectors.

 

"The government should minimize number of forms, returns and inspection formalities, quantitively and not qualitatively, and encourage greater use of ICT. There should be autonomy to industries to manage its resources responding to market conditions," he said.

 

Mr Jaipuria added that entrepreneurship, productivity improvement and automation should be promoted wherever possible. And, the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970 should be amended upwardly, revising the existing limit of 20 workmen to 50 workmen, for seeking registration and licensing," he said.

 

Mr Dilip Chenoy, Secretary General, FICCI said, "We need to get industrial relations to the centre stage of most of the company's work that is going on and then build it into the HR system."

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