Punjab hikes minimum wages by 15%, first revision since 2013

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday announced a 15% increase in minimum daily wages for workers across both government and private sectors, marking the first revision since 2013.

The announcement was made during a special one-day sitting of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha on the occasion of Labour Day.

Calling it a long-overdue step, the AAP leader said workers deserved a tangible benefit on May 1, adding that the hike was aimed at easing cost-of-living pressures and improving income security for daily wage earners.


"It is labourers' day, so labourers should certainly get a present," Mann told ANI.

The wage decision comes at a politically charged moment.

Proceedings in the Assembly earlier in the day saw sharp exchanges between the ruling Aam Aadmi Party and the opposition Congress, which alleged that the Chief Minister appeared intoxicated and demanded a breath analyser test.

Congress MLAs entered the well of the House, urging the Speaker to order medical checks for all legislators.

Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa criticised Mann and called for dope testing of members, while senior Congress leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira also pressed for an alcohol test and raised the issue publicly.

"The conduct of @AamAadmiParty CM Bhagwant Mann had lowered the prestige of the august house of Vidhan Sabha. We @INCPunjab MLAs urge @ArvindKejriwal to take action against CM for impropriety and that too by being drunk in the assembly," Khaira's post read.

Mann dismissed the allegations, saying the opposition had no substantive issues to raise.

"All speculations have been put to rest today regarding all those who were saying that 65 or 40 MLAs of AAP are going away," he said.