All the reputed newspapers of the country have published the news on the front page that the Modi government has increased the minimum wage on a large scale. From October 1, 2024, this increased wage will be given to the workers. The truth of this is that this is not the wage increased by the government but it is the dearness allowance which increases every 6 months according to the All-India Consumer Price Index for Industries.
In that too, the wages of unskilled agricultural labourers have increased by Rs 3 per day, it is worth noting that the wages of agricultural unskilled labourers were earlier Rs 497 per day which has now become Rs 500 per day. The wages of semi-skilled, skilled and highly skilled labourers have increased by just Rs 4 per day. The wages of unskilled labourers working in the industries of the Central Government have been increased by Rs 5, semi-skilled and skilled by Rs 6 and highly skilled by Rs 7 per day. The newspapers have created an illusion by sensationalizing such a small increase in the wages of labourers. Due to not being able to understand the fraud of Modi government, labourers are also sharing this news on social media on a large scale.
According to the average inflation rate of the last half year, unskilled labourers of industries and construction sector under the Central government will get Rs 783 per day, semi-skilled labourers will get Rs 868 per day, skilled labourers will get Rs 954 per day and highly skilled labourers will get Rs 1035 per day and monthly wages of Rs 20358, 22568, 24804, 26910 respectively. Earlier, the newly appointed Chief Minister of Delhi Government, Atishi, also made a similar announcement and said that the government has increased the wages of skilled, semi-skilled and skilled labourers in Delhi from April 1. Delhi government has no role in this either and this is a routine increase. As per the Minimum Wages Act 1948, under the legal provisions of giving dearness allowance, it increases naturally every 6 months, that is, this increase takes place from April 1 and October 1 every year.
According to this Act, for the first time in 1957, the process of calculating the minimum wage was decided in the 15th Indian Labour Conference. According to this, 2700 calories of food should be given to three members daily, which includes husband-wife and two children, 72 yards of cloth should be given to them per year, there should be a room for rent for four people to live in and 20 percent was added as fuel charge. In 1992, the Supreme Court in the Raptakorus case increased the minimum wage calculation by 25 percent by including festivals.
Dearness allowance is not a part of minimum wages. The dearness allowance is given according to inflation other than minimum wages which is decided through the All India Consumer Price Index for Industries and it is decided by the Labour Bureau Shimla which gives the inflation data every 6 months. Its three centres also work in Uttar Pradesh. They take the market rate of food items like pulses, oil, flour, rice, salt, vegetables, spices etc. and accordingly take the average of 6 months and decide the price index through which dearness allowance is decided for the workers.
The role of the government is to revise the Minimum Wage every 5 years and notify the industries. The Minimum Wage was amended on 19 January 2017 by the Centre. According to Section 3 of the Minimum Wages Act, it is mandatory to revise the Minimum Wage every 5 years. Under which the wage revision of the workers working in various industries under the Central Government across the country was to be done in 2022. But it has not been done yet despite two years having passed. The situation in Uttar Pradesh is very bad, the Yogi government has not done the wage revision of the minimum wage since 2019. Many times, in the Assembly, in response to the questions asked by various MLAs on this, it was said by the Minister that a wage revision committee will be formed very soon and the government will implement it. But till date that ‘very soon’ has not come. As a result, the minimum wage in the state is almost half as compared to the Centre.
The current BJP-led Central government has made the situation even worse. Four years ago, the labour codes were passed by the Parliament by abolishing the labour laws. Their rules have also been framed and now the Modi government is working with full force to implement them. The team of the Labour Department of the Government of India is going to every state and getting the rules of the states made in accordance with the rules made by the Government of India. The Minimum Wage Act 1948 has been abolished and included in the Wage Code. In this Wage Code, a national floor level minimum wage has been fixed which is even less than the Minimum Wage which is Rs 178 per day today. After heavy opposition from trade unions and workers on this, the central government formed a committee under the leadership of Arjun Satpati. This committee recommended a national floor level minimum wage of Rs 375 per day which was strongly opposed by corporates and industrialists. Due to this the government did not accept the recommendations of this committee and a new committee has been formed to decide the national floor level wage.
Workers have the right to equal pay for equal work under the Contract Labour Act and Rules. In the writ of Jagjit Singh vs State of Punjab, in the context of electricity workers of Punjab and Haryana, the Supreme Court in its decision given on 26 October 2016 clearly stated that no person voluntarily works as a contract worker at very low wages. He pays the price of his self-respect, dignity, self-worth and integrity for the food, clothing and shelter of his family. The Supreme Court says that in any welfare state, workers doing equal work cannot be given less wages at all. The decision said that undoubtedly giving less wages for equal work is an act of exploitation, enslavement and oppression. The Central Government has abolished the provision of equal pay for equal work in the Labor Code.
On one hand, the government is engaged in increasing the working hours and on the other hand it is engaged in reducing the wage rates. This is to continuously increase the primitive accumulation of capital and in this process the government is becoming an agent of the corporates and big capital houses. This character of the government is being exposed day by day and to hide this, the government is spreading false propaganda of increasing wages. Workers have to be cautious of this fraud being done by the Modi government on minimum wages and come forward to achieve their right to live a respectable life given in the Constitution.
Dinkar Kapoor, State General Secretary, All India People’s Front, Uttar Pradesh.
