March 20, eight years after the last review, the Gujarat Government increased the minimum daily salaries of all workers in the state by over 25 per cent. The new minimum salaries are applicable to 46 “specified employments” and are projected to benefit 2 crore workers.
Minister of Labour and Employment Balwantsinh Rajput made the statement in the State Assembly pursuant to Rule 44 and stated that the new pay would be implemented within seven to 10 days.
Following the modification, the minimum daily salary for skilled workers in urban areas would be Rs 410.8, while the minimum daily wage for unskilled workers in rural areas will be around Rs 382.2.
The daily compensation for skilled workers employed in municipal corporations and municipal regions has increased by 24.63 percent, and the new monthly income is now Rs 12,324, up from Rs 9,887.8.
The wages of semi-skilled and unskilled workers have also been increased by 24.15 and 24.41 percent, respectively. These sets of employees would now receive monthly salaries of Rs 11,986 and Rs 11,752, respectively, according to the minister.
The last modification of minimum wages occurred in December 2014, according to labour department officials who spoke to The Indian Express.
The minimum salary for skilled workers has increased by 24.42 percent outside of municipal corporation and municipality boundaries. These employees will receive Rs 12,012 per month.
Similarly, the revised monthly salaries for semi-skilled workers have increased by 24.41 percent to Rs 11,752. The new monthly compensation for unskilled labourers is Rs 11,466 (an increase of approximately 21.12 percent).
The minimum wages will apply to 46 industries and occupations, including automobile repair, bakeries, Cement prestressed products, construction, cotton ginning and pressing, dispensaries and clinics, drilling operations, electronics and allied industries, film industry, fisheries, hosiery, hospitals, oil mills, petrol and diesel pumps, pharmaceutical and engineering industry, plastics, power-looms, textile processing, printing, public motor transport, and pulp and pap.
Also, the Government doubled the minimum salary for sugarcane workers, from Rs 238 per tonne to Rs 476 per tonne. According to the minister, this is projected to benefit more than three lakh sugarcane workers in the state.
Rajput stated that the Government received 85 objections and proposals from the industry over the modification of the minimum wage, but only five from the sugar business.
The minimum wage increase for both the notified industries and sugarcane employees is a positive development. The wage increase for sugarcane workers is the result of a long struggle. The Government spent about a year drafting the notification for the wage increase for sugarcane workers, which was issued in February 2021, according to Sudhir Katiyar of the Majur Adhikar Manch, an organisation campaigning for the rights of workers in the state.
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