Minimum Wages In Unorganised And Agriculture Sectors In India
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 152
TO BE ANSWERED ON 18.11.2019
MINIMUM WAGES IN UNORGANISED SECTOR
152. SHRI AJAY NISHAD:
Will the Minister of LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Government has revised minimum wages of all workers working in unorganised and agriculture sectors;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether there is any mechanism in place to ensure payment of minimum wages fixed by the Government to the labourers/workers;
(d) if so, the details thereof;
(e) whether any complaints have been received regarding cases of negligence in this regard; and
(f) if so, the action taken by the Government in this regard?
ANSWER – MINISTER OF STATE (IC) FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SHRI SANTOSH KUMAR GANGWAR)
(a) & (b): The Minimum Wages Act, 1948 was enacted to safeguard the interests of the workers mostly in the unorganised sector. Under the provision of the Act, both the Central Government and the State Governments are the appropriate governments to fix, revise, review and enforce the rate of minimum wages to workers in respect of scheduled employments under their respective jurisdictions. The Government has notified increase in the basic rate of minimum wages for scheduled employments in the Central sphere w.e.f. 19.01.2017.
(c) to (f): The Minimum Wages Act, 1948 is implemented by the Centre as well as the States in respect of their respective jurisdiction. In the Central sphere, the enforcement is secured through the Inspecting Officers of the Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) commonly designated as Central Industrial Relations Machinery (CIRM), the compliance in the State sphere is ensured through the State Enforcement Machinery. They conduct regular inspections and in the event of detection of any case of non-payment or under-payment of minimum wages, they advise the employers to make payment of the shortfall of wages. In case of non-compliance, penal provisions against the defaulting employers are invoked. The details of action taken is at Annexure-I.
ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (c) TO (f) OF LOK SABHA UN-STARRED QUESTION NO. 152 FOR 18.11.2019 BY SHRI AJAY NISHAD REGARDING MINIMUM WAGES IN UNORGANISED SECTOR
Minimum Wages Act, 1948
| Particulars | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 Upto Sep, 2019 |
| No. of Inspections Conducted | 9151 | 9187 | 8327 | 3564 |
| No. of Irregularities detected | 61689 | 77399 | 61489 | 32465 |
| No. Irregularities Rectified | 53255 | 39620 | 34465 | 12186 |
| No. of Prosecutions Launched | 2321 | 1651 | 2081 | 975 |
| No. of Convictions | 1951 | 2205 | 651 | 226 |
Source: LOK SABHA