A high-level expert panel investigating the issue has recommended that the central government of India look to impose a higher obligatory minimum wage rate applicable throughout the nation prior to the general elections.
A new floor wage is expected to be announced ahead of the elections, which are anticipated to take place in April or May, by an expert committee led by Indian statistician and former Centenary Professor of Statistics at the University of Calcutta, SP Mukherjee. The committee was established in 2021 and will last for three years, ending in June of this year.
Ninety percent of the nation’s 500 million workers are employed in the unorganised sector. The floor wage, now at IN₹176 (US$2.13) a day, was last reviewed in 2017, and there is a major need to revise the rates to account in increases in the costs of living and inflation.
In 2019, a committee led by Dr. Anoop Satpathy, a wage specialist and professor of economics at the V.V. Giri National Labour Institute, suggested a floor pay of IN₹375 (US$4.53) per day. Since it was more than 100% greater than the current floor wage, the government and other employers would suffer financially as a result of its acceptance. A spokesperson of the employers’ body stated, “There needs to be a balance between the existing IN₹176 (US$2.13) per day and IN₹375 (US$4.53) per day as recommended by the Satpathy committee.” “It is anticipated that the current committee will determine a minimum wage that is financially equitable for employers, encompassing both federal and state governments.”
The committee is probably going to set the floor salary based on costs associated with family expenses and inflation. Officials stated that in order to determine a floor salary, consideration was given to both non-food expenses and nutritional needs.
At the moment, the daily pay floor rate in some states is set below IN₹176 (US$2.13), while the floor rate in other states is higher. The Economic Times clarified that the variation in minimum wages among states contributes to the mobility of migrant workers inside the nation.
