Arunachal govt to take up labourer wage hike in Cabinet

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu today assured the state Assembly to take up the issue of wage hike for labourers in the cabinet.
Responding to a private member resolution moved by former chief minister Nabam Tuki, Khandu said that he had already received memorandum from labour unions and asked to the finance department to examine it.
Despite poor resources, the state government has implemented the seventh Central Pay Commission recommendations with 22 per cent hike in salaries for government employees, the chief minister said.
Khandu also urged Tuki to withdraw the resolution, which he did.
Tuki, however, said that the state government should hold talks with labour unions to listen to their pleas.

Earlier, moving the resolution Tuki, the lone Congress member in the 60-member House, urged the government to revise the minimum wage of casual and contingency workers to Rs 600 per day keeping in view the rise in prices of essential commodities and high inflation.

Participating in the discussion, Labour & Employment Minister Kumar Waii termed the resolution as 'good' and said that labour laws prescribed wage review in every five years but the state government reviewed it for 3-4 times in the past five years.
"The wages provided to labourers in the state is higher than other North East states," he said.

Still, the cabinet would examine the issue of wage hike in consultation with experts, Waii said.
Power Minister Tamiyo Taga said the resolution was 'incomplete' as it did not mention the category of labourers.
While senior BJP leader Japu Deru advocated for a policy mechanism with accountability by the state government to ensure output with incentives, Independent MLA Paknga Bage suggested for referring the matter to a cabinet committee.