This refers to the report “Process begins for statutory central minimum wage” (November 10). It is a welcome move to have a realistic prescribed (enforceable) minimum wage linked to the cost of living to ensure uniform payment norms for work done under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA).
But this addresses just one aspect of the anomalies in hiring labour. Other factors include built-in social disparities like uneven development, varying literacy and poverty levels and several geographical and political factors. Enlightened employers in the government, public sector, media and certain industry groups factor in employees’ minimum needs for maintaining a lifestyle commensurate with their jobs in the remuneration package and provide social security benefits like pension, provident fund and medical facilities. This, unfortunately, covers a very small portion of the country’s workforce.
It is evident from the pattern of asset-formation that a majority of workers in lucrative sectors like services, construction, mining, IT and processing are paid starvation wages. While everything else can be safely left to the mercy of market forces, the government has a social responsibility to protect employees’ interests by providing a guidance on minimum wages for unskilled and skilled workers in different sectors, factoring in workers’ minimum needs and employers’ paying capacities. The need of the hour is a national policy on prices, wages and income that looks beyond adverse inflation figures, which are eruptive symptoms of an ailing economy.
M G Warrier, Mumbai
