Labour ministry seeks Cabinet nod for fixing minimum wage for unskilled workers

NEW DELHI: The labour ministry has sought Cabinet approval for a Bill that empowers the Centre to fix national minimum wage for unskilled workers, a move that will ensure that no worker is denied minimum wage.

At a seminar on labour reforms on Friday, labour secretary Shankar Agarwal said his ministry has moved a Cabinet note on labour code on wages for consideration.

"Once approved by the Cabinet, and thereafter passed in Parliament, it will allow the Centre to arrive at minimum wages for unskilled workers in different states based on a formula," Agarwal said, without divulging what the minimum wage would be.

Besides, Agarwal said his ministry has embarked on a series of labour reforms with a focus on providing flexibility to entrepreneurs to hire workers.

The biggest challenge is to create 10 million jobs every year and this would require change in existing labour laws, he said at the seminar which is organised by industry body Ficci and the AlI-India Organisation of Employers.

"The focus of labour reforms of this government is to create a mechanism to provide flexibility to entrepreneurs to hire workers, provided they ensure that workers are given jobs, wages and social security," he said.