Lok Sabha Question No. 2416 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-08
Subject: Wage Variation among States
Ministry: LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
Asked by: Bhartruhari Mahtab, Rahul Ramesh Shewale, Queen Oja

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2416 TO BE ANSWERED ON 08.07.2019

## WAGE VARIATION AMONG STATES

2416. SHRI BHARTRUHARI MAHTAB: SHRI RAHUL RAMESH SHEWALE: SHRIMATI QUEEN OJA:

Will the Minister of LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT be pleased to state:

- (a)whether  there  is  variation  among  States  in  wages  offered  to  various types  of  unskilled  labourers  in  the  country,  if  so,  the  details  thereof, State/UT-wise;
- (b)whether  the  Government  has  any  proposal  to  make  minimum  wage notified by the Centre mandatory for all the States in the country, if so, the details thereof;
- (c)whether the Union Government has received feedbacks from the State Governments  in  this  regard,  if  so,  the  details  thereof  along  with  the reaction of the Government thereto;
- (d)the other corrective steps taken by the Government in this direction; and
- (e)whether the common service centre scheme is extended to North-East India, if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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. Rates fixed in the Central sphere  are  applicable  to  establishments  under  the  authority  of  Central Government, railway administration, mines, oil-fields, major port or any

corporation established by a Central Government. Employment other than the  scheduled employment for central Sphere come under the purview of State Government and accordingly State Government wages are applicable in such employments.

To address the variation in wages among States/UTs offered to various types of labourers; to have a uniform wage structure and to reduce the disparity in minimum wages across the country; the concept of National Floor  Level  Minimum  Wage  (NFLMW)  as  a  non-statutory  measure  was mooted on the basis of the recommendations of the National Commission on Rural Labour (NCRL) in 1991. On the basis of increase in the Consumer Price  Index,  the  Central  Government  has  fixed  the  National  Floor  Level Minimum  Wages  from  Rs.160/-  to  Rs.176/-  per  day  w.e.f.  01.06.2017.  The State Governments/UTs are requested to fix and revise minimum wages in scheduled employments not below the NFLMW.

- (b)  to  (d):  Considering  suggestions  received  from  various  stakeholders  in tripartite consultations, A draft Labour Code on Wages Bill, 2019, has been prepared  after  amalgamation,  simplification  and  rationalization  of  the relevant provisions of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948; the Payment of Wages Act,  1936;  the  Payment  of  Bonus  Act,  1965;  and  the  Equal  Remuneration Act, 1976 and circulated for inter-ministerial consultation. The provisions of the Code on Wages Bill, 2019 are at pre-legislative stage.
- (e): The erstwhile Common Service Centre (CSC) Scheme has been closed on 31 st  March, 2017. However, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) is implementing the CSC-2.0: a way forward project at Gram Panchayat (GP) level under Digital India Programme which aimed to set up at least one CSC at GP level to cover all the 2.5 lakhs GPs across the country.

The key objective of CSCs is to deliver various citizen  centric services, such as, Government to Citizen (G2C), Business to Citizen (B2C) skill services, financial inclusion services, educational services, development services etc.

- CSC-2.0 project is completely based on a service delivery/transaction oriented self-sustainable entrepreneurship model, with the objective to enable non-discriminatory access to e-Services to citizens, especially in rural areas.

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