Expert committee fixes need-based national minimum wage at Rs 375 per day

An expert committee has recommended fixing the need-based national minimum wage at Rs 375 per day or Rs 9,750 per month as of July 2018, irrespective of sectors, skills, occupations and rural-urban locations for a family comprising 3.6 consumption unit, an official statement said on Thursday.

The Ministry of Labour and Employment had constituted an expert committee on January 17, 2017, under the Chairmanship Anoop Satpathy, Fellow, V V Giri National Labour Institute (VVGNLI), to review and recommend a methodology for fixation of National Minimum Wage (NMW).

The expert committee has submitted its report on "Determining the Methodology for Fixation of the National Minimum Wage" to the government through the Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment on Thursday, said the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

"...the report has recommended to fix the need-based national minimum wage for India at Rs 375 per day or Rs 9,750 per month as of July 2018, irrespective of sectors, skills, occupations and rural-urban locations for a family comprising 3.6 consumption unit. It has also recommended introducing an additional house rent allowance (city compensatory allowance), averaging up to Rs 55 per day, ie., Rs 1,430 per month for urban workers over and above the NMW," the ministry said in a statement.

Apart from proposing the level of a single national minimum wage at an all-India level, the ministry said, the report has also estimated and recommended different national minimum wages for different geographical regions of the country to suit the local realities and as per socio-economic and labour market contexts.

For the purpose of estimating national minimum wages at regional levels it has grouped the states into five regions based on a composite index and has recommended region-specific national minimum wages.

Listing Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal in group I the committee has recommended a minimum wage of Rs 342 per day or Rs 8,892 per month for these states.

For Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, and Uttarakhand Rs 380 per day or Rs 9,880 per month.

For Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu Rs 414 per day or Rs 10,764 per month.

In region IV Delhi, Goa, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Punjab Rs 447 per day or Rs 11,622 per month.

For Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim, Mizoram and Tripura Rs 386 per day or Rs 10, 036 per month.

The report has undertaken a rigorous and meticulous analysis and has generated a large amount of evidence relating to changes in the demographic structure, consumption pattern and nutritional intakes, the composition of food baskets and the relative importance of non-food consumption items to address the realities in the Indian context by using official data made available by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), the ministry said.

The report has now been placed on the ministry's website, for facilitating the process of consultation and dialogue among social partners and stakeholders and seeking necessary approval of methodology from tripartite bodies, it added.

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