New Delhi: Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Central Government is turning pro-corporate and anti-labour by taking away labourers” rights one-by-one by amending laws.
“So naturally, they will not listen to any trade unions, nor will they explain to trade unions leaders what the genuine difficulties are in implementing the minimum wages and various labour laws. They are taking away the rights of the labourers one-by-one by amending the existing laws just to help corporates. It itself shows that they are not interested in labour welfare and their matters,” Kharge told ANI.
Based on deliberations held at a meeting of the Minimum Wage Advisory Board under the chairmanship of Minister for State for Labour and Employment (Independent Charge) Bandaru Dattatreya for revising the basic minimum wages for the central sphere, the government has decided to fix the minimum wages at Rs.350 per day, raising it from the existing Rs. 246 for unskilled non-agricultural workers for ‘C’ category areas, keeping in view modalities to be applied for the fixing of minimum wages.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced this decision, but trade unions have refused to call off their strike.
Dattatreya has appealed to the trade unions to call off their strike in the national interest.