wages act. The industry has been
objecting to pay even the
minimum wages (statutory!) and
the government is heeding and
concurring with the wishes of the
industry. The government to
pursue its flag ship ‘Make India’
initiative has decided to provide
cheaper labour to foreign capital
in India than the cheap labour
available in China, Vietnam,
Cambodia and Bangladesh.
The NDA government has
come forward only to fix minimum
wage @ 10,000 P.M as a bait to
calling off the Sept. 2 strike.
But since many strong
objections are received from
industrial groups and industrial
associations like FICCI etc, the
labour ministry had put on hold its
plan to fix minimum wages to
contract workers at Rs 10,000 P.M
and had “opted” for “international
consultation” as if the fixation of
wages is an international matter
and an unsolvable problem to be
dealt only by international experts!
One has to wonder whether ours
is a sovereign country and our
rulers are running at all a
sovereign governments or not?
Our rulers and especially the
N.D.A government which talks
‘reverently’ about international
wisdom’ and depends on it has not
yet ratified the United Nation’s
convention No 131 (adopted in
1970) on minimum wage fixing,
though it clamours to be a
permanent member in UNO. But
it eagers to scrap the very
minimum wages act itself.
An editorial of Business
Standard dt 17/18 Sept 2016, says
to raise the national minimum
wages to Rs 15,000 is an illadvised step and it warns that if
such a decision is taken that the
following ill conseq