Lok Sabha Question No. 2783 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-08-07
Subject: Daily Wagers Working in Local Areas
Ministry: LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
Asked by: Sanjay Bhatia

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2783

TO BE ANSWERED ON 07.08.2023

## DAILY WAGERS WORKING IN LOCAL AREAS

†2783. SHRI SANJAY BHATIA:

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

- (a)whether the Government has launched any new scheme during the year 2022-23 for the betterment of daily wagers working in their local area so that they may not migrate to other States or regions for work;
- (b)whether the Government proposes to move from 'minimum wages' to 'living wage'; and
- (c)if so, the details of the measures taken by the Government along
- with the number of people likely to be benefitted therefrom?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SHRI RAMESWAR TELI)

(a) to (c): As  per  the  Unorganised  Workers'  Social  Security  Act, 2008, the Government is mandated to provide Social Security to the workers  of  unorganised  sector  including  daily  wage  workers  by formulating suitable welfare schemes on matters relating to (i) life and disability cover, (ii) health and maternity benefits, (iii) old age protection and (iv) any other benefit as may be determined by the Central Government.

The Life and Disability cover is provided through Pradhan Mantri  Jeevan  Jyoti  Bima  Yojana  (PMJJBY)  and  Pradhan  Mantri

Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY).

The Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY)  provides  an  annual  health  cover  of  Rs.  5  lakhs  per eligible family for secondary  and  tertiary care hospitalization corresponding to 1949 treatment procedures across 27 specialties. It is a completely cashless and paperless scheme. The beneficiary families under ABPMJAY have been identified from Social Economic Caste Census (SECC) of 2011 basis 6 deprivation and 11 occupational criteria across rural and urban areas.

The old age protection is provided through the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-Dhan (PM-SYM) pension scheme in the form of monthly pension of Rs. 3,000/- after attaining the age of 60 years.

Apart  from  these  schemes,  Atal  Pension  Yojana,  Public Distribution  System  under  National  Food  Security  Act,  Mahatma Gandhi  National  Rural  Employment  Guarantee  Act,  Deen  Dayal Upadhyay  Gramin  Kaushal  Yojana,  Pradhan  Mantri  Awas  Yojana, Programme,  Gareeb  Kalyan  Rojgar Yojana, Mahatma Gandhi Bunkar Bima Yojana, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Antyodaya  Yojana,  PMSVANidhi,  Pradhan  Mantri  Kaushal  Vikas Yojana, are also available to the unorganised workers including daily

National Social Assistance wage workers depending upon their eligibility criteria.

Provision of minimum wages under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 provides for cost of living allowance as a component of minimum wages. Accordingly, the Central Government revises the cost  of  living  allowance  called  as  Variable  Dearness  Allowance (V.D.A) on basic rates of minimum wages under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, every six months effective from 1st April and 1st October every  year  on  the  basis  of  Consumer  Price  Index  for  Industrial workers to protect the minimum wages against inflation.

Recently the provisions of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, have been rationalized and subsumed under the Code on Wages, 2019 and  the  components  of  minimum  wages  stipulated  therein  also provide  for  cost  of  living  allowance.  Further,  the  Code  makes minimum wages universally applicable across employments and thus moves ahead from restrictive applicability of minimum wages limited to scheduled employments as provided for under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948.

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