Workers' salaries are being safeguarded: Uttarakhand government

With heavy industrialisation in Uttarakhand, the government today said it was taking action against all those industries which failed to obey labour laws in order to safeguard the interests of workers.

In Haridwar district, which has emerged as a big hub of industries, the government said it had so far registered 1,165 cases against various industries, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prakash Pant told the state Assembly here today.

Of the 1,165 cases, the government has so far settled 424 whereby 2,211 workers were benefited in terms of salaries and bonuses, Pant said in response to questions on complaints of labour exploitation in Haridwar district.

Pant also said the government’s labour department was enforcing the labour laws and making surprise checks on these industries from time to time in order to safeguard the interests of workers.

According to a government estimate, nearly 2,446 units were established in the hill state after the Centre announced the hill-based tax incentives in 2003. These industries include top notch ones like Hindustan Unilever Limited, Mahindra and Mahindra, Bajaj Auto and Hero Honda where salary structure for workers is far better.

The government is also enforcing the Minimum Wages Act in the hill state where workers salaries are being fixed on basis of variable dearness allowance which is a tool to safeguard wages against the inflation. Accordingly, the workers’ salaries will be revised after every six months. The last time, the salaries were increased were in October by Rs 1,148, said Assistant Labour Commissioner Vipin Kumar. From April 1 this year, the salaries will get a further jump of Rs 1,320.

And now, the salaries of the unskilled labourer from April 1 will reach Rs 3,725 per month and that of skilled labourer to Rs 4,185 per month.

In the engineering sector, the salaries have showed much more improvement with unskilled workers getting Rs 4,974 per month and skilled workers getting Rs 6,063. Besides, workers are also getting bonuses 8.3 per cent to 20 per cent bonuses and other allowances like gratuity in industries, Kumar added.