Lok Sabha Question No. 934 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-07-29
Subject: Minimum Wages for Sanitation Workers
Ministry: LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
Asked by: Shri Vishnu Dayal Ram

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 934 TO BE ANSWERED ON 29.07.2024

## MINIMUM WAGES FOR SANITATION WORKERS

934.  SHRI VISHNU DAYAL RAM:

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

- (a)whether  it  is  true  that  there  has  been  an  increase  in  the  total
- strikes partaken by sanitation workers in the year 2022-23;
- (b)if so, the details thereof, State-wise;
- (c)whether the Government has any plans to bring formal legislation to mandatorily set the minimum wage to be given to sanitation workers, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (d)whether it is true that in some cases, total arrears of Rs.1,20,000 were not paid to sanitation workers, if so, the details thereof; and
- (e)whether the Government has any plans on mitigating the issue of unpaid arrears and money owed to sanitation workers, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SUSHRI SHOBHA KARANDLAJE)

- (a) & (b): No such strike has been reported in respect of sanitation workers in the Central Sphere.
- (c): Under  the  provisions  of  the  Minimum  Wages  Act,  1948, both  the  Central  and  the  State  Governments  are  appropriate Governments to fix,  review  and  revise  the  minimum  wages  of  the employees  employed  in the scheduled employments  including "Employment of Sweeping and Cleaning' except activities prohibited under the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993 under their respective jurisdictions. A statement showing increase in the rates of wages on account of increasing Variable Dearness Allowance payable to the employees engaged in the Employment of Sweeping and Cleaning in the Central sphere is annexed.

(d): No such information has been reported in Central Sphere.

(e): Both the Central and the State Governments are appropriate Governments to enforce the provisions of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, including the provisions relating to non-payment of wages/minimum  wages,  in  their  respective  jurisdictions.  In  the Central  sphere  the  enforcement  is  done  through  the  Inspecting Officers  of  the  Chief  Labour  Commissioner  (Central)  commonly designated as Central Industrial Relations Machinery (CIRM) and the compliance  in  the  State  Sphere  is  ensured  through  the  State Enforcement Machinery. The designated inspecting officers conduct regular inspections and in the event of detection of any case of nonpayment or underpayment of wages/minimum wages, they direct the employers to make payment of the shortfall of wages. In case of noncompliance, penal provisions prescribed under sections 17A and 20 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1936 and section 22 of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, are taken recourse to.

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## Annexure referred to in reply to part (c) of Lok Sabha un-starred question no. 934 for 29.07.2024 regarding Minimum Wages for Sanitation Workers.

Area wise Rate of Minimum Wages for Employment of Sweeping and Cleaning in the Central Sphere as on 01.04.2024

| Scheduled              | Category of Workers   | Rates of Wages including V.D.A per day (in Rs.)   | Rates of Wages including V.D.A per day (in Rs.)   | Rates of Wages including V.D.A per day (in Rs.)   |
|------------------------|-----------------------|---------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------|
| Employment             |                       | Area A                                            | Area B                                            | Area C                                            |
| Sweeping and Cleaning+ | Unskilled             | 778                                               | 651                                               | 522                                               |

(Contd/-)

## Classification of Area

| AREA - 'A'        | AREA - 'A'   | AREA - 'A'           | AREA - 'A'   | AREA - 'A'        | AREA - 'A'   |
|-------------------|--------------|----------------------|--------------|-------------------|--------------|
| Ahmedabad         | (UA)         | Hyderabad            | (UA)         | Faridabad complex |              |
| Bangaluru         | (UA)         | Kanpur               | (UA)         | Ghaziabad         |              |
| Kolkata           | (UA)         | Lucknow              | (UA)         | Gurgaon           |              |
| Delhi             | (UA)         | Chennai              | (UA)         | Noida             |              |
| Greater Mumbai    | (UA)         | Nagpur               | (UA)         | Secunderabad      |              |
| Navi Mumbai       |              | Pune                 | (UA)         |                   |              |
| AREA - 'B'        | AREA - 'B'   | AREA - 'B'           | AREA - 'B'   | AREA - 'B'        | AREA - 'B'   |
| Agra              | (UA)         | Gwalior              | (UA)         | Port Blair        | (UA)         |
| Ajmer             | (UA)         | Hubli-Dharwad        | (M. Corpn)   | Puducherry        | (UA)         |
| Aligarh           | (UA)         | Indore               | (UA)         | Raipur            | (UA)         |
| Allahabad         | (UA)         | Jabalpur             | (UA)         | Raurkela          | (UA)         |
| Amravati          | (M.Corpn)    | Jaipur               | (M.Corpn)    | Rajkot            | (UA)         |
| Amritsar          | (UA)         | Jalandhar            | (UA)         | Ranchi            | (UA)         |
| Asansol           | (UA)         | Jalandhar-Cantt.     | (UA)         | Saharanpur        | (M.Corpn)    |
| Aurangabad        | (UA)         | Jammu                | (UA)         | Salem             | (UA)         |
| Bareilly          | (UA)         | Jamnagar             | (UA)         | Sangli            | (UA)         |
| Belgaum           | (UA)         | Jamshedpur           | (UA)         | Shillong          |              |
| Bhavnagar         | (UA)         | Jhansi               | (UA)         | Siliguri          | (UA)         |
| Bhiwandi          | (UA)         | Jodhpur              | (UA)         | Solapur           | (M.Corpn)    |
| Bhopal            | (UA)         | Kannur               | (UA)         | Srinagar          | (UA)         |
| Bhubaneshwar      | (UA)         | Kochi                | (UA)         | Surat             | (UA)         |
| Bikaner           | (M.Corpn)    | Kolhapur             | (UA)         | Thiruvanantapuram | (UA)         |
| Bokaro Steel City | (UA)         | Kollam               | (UA)         | Thrissur          | (UA)         |
| Chandigarh        | (UA)         | Kota                 | (M.Corpn)    | Tiruchirappalli   | (UA)         |
| Coimbatore        | (UA)         | Kozhikode            | (UA)         | Tiruppur          | (UA)         |
| Cuttack           | (UA)         | Ludhiana             | (M.Corpn)    | Ujjain            | (M.Corpn)    |
| Dehradun          | (UA)         | Madurai              | (UA)         | Vadodara          | (UA)         |
| Dhanbad           | (UA)         | Malappuram           | (UA)         | Varanasi          | (UA)         |
| Durgapur          | (UA)         | Malegaon             | (UA)         | Vasai- Virar City | (M.Corpn)    |
| Durg-Bhilai Nagar | (UA)         | Mangalore            | (UA)         | Vijayawada        | (UA)         |
| Erode             | (UA)         | Meerut               | (UA)         | Vishakhapatnam    | (M.Corpn)    |
| Firozabad         |              | Moradabad            | (M. Corpn)   | Warangal          | (UA)         |
| Goa               |              | Mysore               | (UA)         | Gorakhpur         | (UA)         |
| NandedWaghala     | (M. Corpn)   | GreaterVisakhapatnam | (M.Corpn)    | Nasik             | (UA)         |
| Gulbarga          | (UA)         | Nellore              | (UA)         | Guntur            | (UA)         |
| Panchkula         | (UA)         | Guwahati             | (UA)         | Patna             | (UA)         |

Area 'C' will comprise all areas not mentioned in this list.

NB : U.A. stands for Urban Agglomeration.

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