Unskilled workers will soon be legally entitled to a minimum daily wage of Rs. 115 per day with states agreeing to endorse the centre’s proposal to make the National Floor Level Minimum Wage statutory.
The move will potentially benefit 360 million workers across the country, most of whom are engaged in agriculture and related activities.
It will also make the wages consistent with those paid under the government’s flagship rural jobs scheme, the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act.
Minimum wages for unskilled workers in at least half the states are below 115, according to government figures published in March. States such as Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Manipur, Nagaland, Uttarakhand and Tamil Nadu are among the worst