Odisha raises minimum wages of labourers

The minimum rates of wages are all-inclusive rates including the basic rates, the cost of living allowances and the variable dearness allowance at ₹0.90 paisa per point rise in All India Consumer Price Index number (base 2001-100).

Nearly two years after it raised the minimum daily wages of workers in all categories, Odisha on Friday brought about a rise in the wage of unskilled, semi-skilled, skilled and highly skilled labourers in 83 types of different services including agriculture, automobile servicing, repairing, garages and workshops, ayurvedic and Unani pharmacy and bakeries and confectioneries.

Labourers ride in the bucket of a payloader to their worksite after some restrictions were lifted during an extended nationwide lockdown. (REUTERS)

In a notification issued by the labour department, the wages of unskilled labourers was raised from ₹280 to ₹303.40 while the same for semi-skilled labourers hiked from ₹320 to ₹393.40. For skilled labourers, the wages have been raised from ₹370 to ₹393.40 while for highly skilled labourers it went up from ₹430 to ₹453.40.

The minimum rates of wages are all-inclusive rates including the basic rates, the cost of living allowances and the variable dearness allowance at ₹0.90 paisa per point rise in All India Consumer Price Index number (base 2001-100). It will be effective in retrospective from April 1, 2020.

Currently, Delhi pays the highest minimum daily wage to labourers of all kinds in the country. Since last year, the Arvind Kejriwal government has made it mandatory for all industries in Delhi to pay the minimum wage of ₹14,842 per month to unskilled workers, three times more than the national minimum wage of ₹4,628 per month. In Delhi, the semi-skilled workers get a minimum of ₹16,341 per month while skilled workers get ₹17,991 per month.