(a)the minimum wages being paid to agricultural labourers in the country at present;
(b)whether agricultural production has got adversely affected due to low minimum wages; and
(c)if so, the reformative measures taken by the Government for increasing minimum wages with regard to the agricultural labourers, bidi workers and mine workers working in the unorganized sector?
MINISTER OF STATE (IC) FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
(SHRI SANTOSH KUMAR GANGWAR)
(a): Under the provisions of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, both Central and State Governments are appropriate Governments to fix, review and revise the minimum wages of the workers employed in the scheduled employment under their respective jurisdictions. Agricultural labourers fall under both the Central and State Governments. Present Minimum rates of wages for the agricultural Labourers in the Central Sphere is at Annexure.
(b) & (c): The Central Government has revised the Basic Minimum wages on 19.01.2017 for the scheduled employments in the Central Sphere. In order to protect the minimum wages against inflation, the Central Government mooted the idea of Variable Dearness Allowance (VDA) in terms of recommendations of the Labour Ministers’ Conference held in 1988. Accordingly, in the Central Sphere, Variable Dearness Allowance (VDA) has been added as a component to the Minimum Wage and the same is revised twice in a year effective from 1st April and 1st October every year on the basis of Consumer Price Index number.
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