Hyderabad: Chief Minister Revanth Reddy on Thursday, May 21, announced a major revision of minimum wages benefiting 1.11 crore workers across Telangana, with the new rates taking effect from June 1 this year.
Addressing a press conference, Reddy said the revision was based on recommendations of a Cabinet sub-committee headed by Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, which consulted all stakeholders before finalising its report.
Four categories, three zones
Workers have been classified into four categories – unskilled, semi-skilled, skilled and highly skilled – and the state divided into three zones for wage determination. Zone 1 covers municipal corporations, Zone 2 municipalities and Zone 3 rural areas.
In Zone 1, the minimum wage for unskilled workers has been raised from Rs 12,750 to Rs 16,000, semi-skilled workers from Rs 13,152 to Rs 17,000, skilled workers from Rs 13,772 to Rs 18,500 and highly skilled workers from Rs 14,607 to Rs 20,000.
‘First major decision for workers since state formation’
“As many as 1.11 crore workers will benefit from this decision. I congratulate the workers on behalf of the Government of Telangana. This is the first major decision taken for workers’ welfare since the formation of the state,” Revanth Reddy said.
He blamed the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government for failing to revise wages, saying workers had suffered due to prolonged inaction on minimum wage fixation during that regime.
Reddy also urged young people to acquire skills and learn foreign languages, citing Japan and Germany as countries offering significant employment opportunities.
On caste census
Welcoming the Supreme Court’s recent verdict on caste census, Reddy said Telangana had already conducted a caste census alongside the population census and made the findings public.
“We consider it an honour that the Supreme Court supported the Telangana decision. Telangana has become a model for the country,” he said, calling on the Narendra Modi government to include caste census in the national population census and ensure adequate representation for weaker sections across all sectors.
(With PTI inputs)
