Question : UNIFORMITY IN MINIMUM WAGES

(a) whether the Government has constituted five regional committees in order to bring uniformity in the minimum wages in the country;

(b) if so, the details thereof alongwith the work done by these committees in this regard at regional level; and

(c) the success achieved by the Union Government as a result thereof?

Answer given by the minister

MINISTER OF STATE FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SHRI HARISH RAWAT)

(a) to (c): The Union Government has set up five Regional Committees in order to reduce the regional disparities in the minimum wages of same or similar scheduled employments. The regional disparity in minimum wages is attributed to differences in socio-economic and agro-climatic conditions, prices of essential commodities, paying capacity, productivity and local conditions influencing the wage rate. The composition of the five Regional Committees is as under:

Region	States/UTs covered
Eastern Region (6)	West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Andaman	and Nicobar Islands.
North Eastern Region (8)	Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland,	Tripura and Sikkim.
Southern Region (6)	Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and	Lakshadweep.
Northern Region (9)	Punjab, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana,	Uttar Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Delhi and Chandigarh.
Western Region (6)	Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Dadra and Nagar	Haveli and Daman and Diu.

The main function of these Committees is to interact periodically with the State Governments/Union Territory Administrations of the different regions so as to deliberate on matter of regional interest as well as bridge the gap in the minimum wages of the same scheduled employment.

Further, in order to have a uniform wage structure and to reduce the disparity in minimum wages across the country, a concept of National Floor Level Minimum Wage (NFLMW) was mooted. The NFLMW per day has been revised from time to time primarily taking into account the increase in the Consumer Price Index Number for Industrial Workers, which stands at Rs.100/- per day with effect from 01.11.2009. Since the NFLMW is a non-statutory measure, the State Governments are persuaded to fix/revise minimum wages in such a way that in none of the scheduled employments, the minimum wage is less than NFLMW.

Question : UNIFORMITY IN MINIMUM WAGES

Answer given by the minister

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