RS: Demand for minimum wage threshold for bank transfer

A demand to fix a minimum threshold for payment of wages of a worker into a bank account was made in the Rajya Sabha on Monday.

Raising the issue through a Zero Hour mention, K S Elangovan (DMK) said wages higher than 10,000 or Rs 15,000 per month should only be credited to the bank account and any less than that can be paid in cash.

This will help end the inconvenience caused to workers who have to go to far of places and stand in queues for withdrawal of their daily wages, he said.

He cited the example of workers in tea gardens of Valparai in Tamil Nadu which has only three ATMs.

The workers in Valparai, he said, have to forego a days' wage if they have to go to an ATM to withdraw their Rs 8,000 per month of salary.

"Wages beyond a minimum threshold alone should be credited to bank accounts... may be Rs 10,000 or Rs 15,000 (per month)," he said.

Surendra Singh Nagar (SP) asked the government to ensure that farmers in Uttar Pradesh get the price of the sugarcane they sell to sugar mills along with interest.

He said about Rs 10,000 crore is due from sugar mills to farmers in the 2018-19 crop year. Besides there is another Rs 2,000 crore of interest on the principal due.

Of this, 42 mills in western Uttar Pradesh have an outstanding of Rs 5,000 crore.

He demanded the state government makes sure that the farmer is paid for his produce within 14 days, as prescribed by the statute, and interest be paid thereof.

Vijay Dinu Tendulkar (BJP) sought a new law to restart mining in Goa, saying a ban on iron ore and other mining in the state has directly impacted 75,000 families associated with the business,.

Jairman Ramesh (Cong) raised the issue of "illegal" acquisition of 400 acres of common forest land by a company in the Aravali belt in contravention of Supreme Court orders of December 1996, December 2011 and March 2019 that had barred such transfer in the ecologically fragile area.

He wanted the government to cancel illegal purchase made using power of attorney.

Prashanta Nanda (BJD) raised the issue of vacancies in the Odisha central university