Delhi to revise workers' minimum wages

The Delhi government has decided to revise the minimum wages of workers in the capital and crack down on contractors who don't pay them the stipulated amount.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted that head of departments must ensure that workers get minimum wages. "Contractors who don't pay minimum wages will be blacklisted."

Presently, unskilled labourers are entitled to a minimum monthly salary of Rs.9,048 or Rs.348 a day. For semi-skilled workers, it is Rs.10,010 per month or Rs.385 a day.

For skilled workers, the fixed minimum wages are Rs.423 a day or Rs.10,998 per month.

The Delhi government's labour department has been asked to prepare a policy for contract labourers.

"The new policy will emphasize how much wage will be sufficient for leading a decent life in Delhi," the government said.

The AAP government said many contractors were not paying minimum wages to labourers and were confiscating the ATM cards of labourers and withdrawing a part of their salaries.

The government said it would look into such complaints seriously and blacklist guilty contractors.

--Indo-Asian New Service

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