Working for less than the bare minimum

The Government of India8217;s National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector uses two notional minimum wages in its report on the Condition of Work and Promotion of Livelihoods in the Unorganised Sector. These are the National Minimum Wage of Rs 66 and the National Commission of Rural Labour NCRL basic minimum wage of Rs 67.

Though the NCRL had stressed that minimum wages be based on cost of living index, figures in the report show that over 50 per cent of non-agricultural labourers in urban areas are paid less than either of the two recommended wage scales. While the figures are disturbing for this class of worker, it is worse for rural no-agricultural workers 8212; over 64 per cent of whom received less than the National Minimum Wage. The figures are for the 2004-05 period.

At the state level, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa had the highest percentage of

casual non-agricultural workers receiving wages below the minimum wage norms.

Kerala and Punjab, meanwhile, recorded the least percentage of such workers receiving wages below the prescribed norms.