LS passes Bill to hike bonus limit

The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed a Bill allowing doubling of wage ceiling for calculating bonus to Rs 7,000 per month for factory workers with establishments with 20 or more workers, from the existing Rs 3,500. The benefits will be applicable retrospectively from April 2014.

The Payment of Bonus (Amendment) Bill, 2015, was passed by a voice vote, with some members objecting to the raising of eligibility limit for payment of bonus from a salary of Rs 10,000 per month to Rs 21,000.

Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya said the ministry had held 21 tripartite meetings with all central trade unions while arriving at a decision. He said the outgo from government coffers would be about Rs 6,203 crore.

K Visheweshwar Reddy of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti said the sharp cut off of Rs 21,000 per month was flawed and added that contractual workers in factories were overworked and underpaid. Sankar Prasad Datta of CPI (M) too said the Rs 21,000 per month ceiling should not be there.

The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, the trade union affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, thanked the PM for enhancing the bonus limit." The government has fulfilled its promises made to us on strike issues. Hope rest will be realized soon," BMS General Secretary Virjesh Upadhyaya said.