India needs add'l 1.5% growth to sustain wage hikes, benefits

India needs to grow by additional 1-1.5 per cent so that it can sustain wage hike and other benefits given to workers and the poor, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said today.
"Our GDP growth of 7.5 per cent is at a time when the world is experiencing global slowdown. We need to increase our growth rate. We have to at least increase it by 1-1.5 per cent," he said at the felicitation function organised by Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS).
"In the coming year, there would be burden of Rs 1.02 lakh crore of Seventh Pay Commission, OROP (One Rank One Pension) burden is also there. That burden can be sustained only when there is increase in economic activity. Because of increased economic activity, government revenue and resources will go up," he said.

The government is ready to have dialogue with the trade unions with regard to wage increase, he said.
He added that the government is of the opinion that if there is development in the society then the benefit of this should go first to labourers and the poor.
Noting that wages or bonus can be increased when government and private sector have resources to do so, he said minimum wages of labour should be at least respectable and take care of inflation.

In the changed scenario of growth oriented politics, there is all round development in the society, enabling the government to serve the poor most, he said.

The Finance Minister asked BMS to support the government in their growth oriented policies and it will in turn take care of all their reasonable demands.
Some of the members suggested that availability of IT
network in all parts of the country, especially in small towns and rural areas, must be ensured as GST system will work only online.
The members hoped that the law will provide relief to the common man by exempting certain essential items from GST and moderate rate of taxation on other items which in turn will bring down the prices of common man consumption items as well as cost of living at large.