The government has increased minimum wage across the country to Rs 160 a day from Rs 137 with effect from this month. It has raised the threshold after two years on the basis of average increase in the consumer price index for industrial workers during this period.
Labour minister Bandaru Dattatreya on Tuesday said he has written to all chief ministers and lieutenant governors to take necessary steps to fix minimum rates of wages in respect of all scheduled employments in states and union territories not below the revised level.
"While reviewing the movement of CPI-IW (consumer price index for industrial workers) during April 2014 to March 2015 over the period April 2012 to March 2013, it was observed that the average CPIIW has risen from 215.17 to 250.83. Accordingly, the NFLMW (national floor level minimum wage) has been revised upwards from existing Rs 137 to Rs 160 per day with effect from July 1, 2015," Dattatreya said. In order to have a uniform wage structure and to reduce the disparity in minimum wages across the country, NFLMW is fixed on the basis of the CPI-IW. The NFLMW was last revised from Rs 115 to Rs 137 per day in July 2013.
