Plantation sector wants govt to fix minimum wages
Planters have urged the Centre to intervene in fixing minimum wages in the plantation sector.
By ET Bureau |
COIMBATORE: Planters have urged the Centre to intervene in fixing minimum wages in the plantation sector.
In his presidential address at the 115th United Planters��� Association of Southern India (UPASI) Annual Conference, UPASI president DP Maheshwari said the state governments are acting as if they are not concerned about the ground realities of an open economy.
Mr Maheshwari said the Indian plantation sector has the disadvantage of a much higher cost on account of various statutory social costs that it is bearing compared to other producing countries. ���We thereby lose some of our important export markets,��� he said.
���The Centre should come to the rescue of this industry, particularly since tea, coffee, rubber and cardamom are centrally-controlled industries under Central Plantation Acts,��� he said.
Though the Centre has the power under these Acts to regulate working conditions, this power is now exercised by the states as ���appropriate governments��� under the Minimum Wages Act.
He added that it is a matter of grave concern that the states have closed their eyes to the vast changes in the plantation labour scene in the past 60 years. ���The threat of a steep revision of minimum wages is used by the Kerala government to force employers to agree to a negotiated settlement,��� he added.
Tamil Nadu had all along upheld the legally correct principle that wages negotiated between unions and employers are fair wage, and that the statutory minimum wage has to be a level below such fair wage. ���Unfortunately, following the footsteps of Kerala, Tamil Nadu government by a recent notification has revised the ruling minimum wage of Rs 65.43 to Rs 101.52,��� he said.
He further added that the real motive behind this exercise was to meet the demand of the local MLA for a wage of Rs 100 plus, instead of following the logical and time-tested practice of subjecting the dispute to statutory conciliation and if necessary, adjudication by an industrial tribunal.
���While de-scheduling plantations from the Minimum Wages Act is our primary request, even within the existing legislative scheme, the Centre should exercise a degree of control and achieve a modicum of uniformity of approach over the revision of minimum wages by states by giving directions as provided for it in the Act,��� said Mr Maheshwari.
He urged the Centre to advise states to consider the special characteristics of plantations, agricultural orientation and status as a nationally important export industry in fixing minimum wages.
In his presidential address at the 115th United Planters��� Association of Southern India (UPASI) Annual Conference, UPASI president DP Maheshwari said the state governments are acting as if they are not concerned about the ground realities of an open economy.
Mr Maheshwari said the Indian plantation sector has the disadvantage of a much higher cost on account of various statutory social costs that it is bearing compared to other producing countries. ���We thereby lose some of our important export markets,��� he said.
���The Centre should come to the rescue of this industry, particularly since tea, coffee, rubber and cardamom are centrally-controlled industries under Central Plantation Acts,��� he said.
Though the Centre has the power under these Acts to regulate working conditions, this power is now exercised by the states as ���appropriate governments��� under the Minimum Wages Act.
He added that it is a matter of grave concern that the states have closed their eyes to the vast changes in the plantation labour scene in the past 60 years. ���The threat of a steep revision of minimum wages is used by the Kerala government to force employers to agree to a negotiated settlement,��� he added.
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Tamil Nadu had all along upheld the legally correct principle that wages negotiated between unions and employers are fair wage, and that the statutory minimum wage has to be a level below such fair wage. ���Unfortunately, following the footsteps of Kerala, Tamil Nadu government by a recent notification has revised the ruling minimum wage of Rs 65.43 to Rs 101.52,��� he said.
He further added that the real motive behind this exercise was to meet the demand of the local MLA for a wage of Rs 100 plus, instead of following the logical and time-tested practice of subjecting the dispute to statutory conciliation and if necessary, adjudication by an industrial tribunal.
���While de-scheduling plantations from the Minimum Wages Act is our primary request, even within the existing legislative scheme, the Centre should exercise a degree of control and achieve a modicum of uniformity of approach over the revision of minimum wages by states by giving directions as provided for it in the Act,��� said Mr Maheshwari.
He urged the Centre to advise states to consider the special characteristics of plantations, agricultural orientation and status as a nationally important export industry in fixing minimum wages.
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