(a) whether the Government are aware of the disparity in wages of
rural and urban labour;
(b) if so, the details thereof alongwith the reasons therefor;
and
(c) the steps the Union Government propose to take to bring
parity into the wages of rural and urban labour?
MINISTER OF LABOUR (DR. SATYANARAYAN JATIYA)
(a) to (c) : A statement is laid on the Table of the House.
STATEMENT FOR THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 219 ON DISPARITY IN WAGES OF RURAL AND URBAN LABOUR DUE FOR ANSWER ON 12.03.2001.
(a) to (c): The average wages in rural areas are generally lower
than those in the urban areas due to factors attributable to cost of
living, productivity, paying capacity etc. The Central as well as
State Governments fix/revise the minimum wages in scheduled
employments as per provisions of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 to
safeguard the interest of workers engaged mostly in the unorganised
sector. There is, however, disparity in the minimum wages in various
States/UTs due to differences in socio-economic and agro- climatic
conditions, cost of living etc. With a view to reduce the
disparities within the Region the Central Government have issued
guidelines for setting up Regional Minimum Wages Advisory Committees.
In the absence of a uniform minimum wage in the country, the
Central Government floated the concept of a national floor level
minimum wage and fixed it at Rs.35/- per day in 1996 based on the
recommendations of the National Commission on Rural Labour ( 1991 )
and subsequent rise in the price level. The national floor level
wage was last revised to Rs.45/- per day with effect from 30.11.1999
to neutralise further rise in the Consumer Price Index. No other
steps are contemplated beyond this to bring parity into the wages of
rural and urban labour.