Minimum Wages bill to benefit contract, daily wage workers

MUMBAI: The Bill to amend the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 and the Payment of Wages Act, 1936, passed by the Legislature during the just-concluded budget session, ensures mandatory payment of wages through banks and cheques to all labourers in the organised and unorganised sector.

"The Bill mandates the payment of wages through banks and cheques to all the labourers in the organised and unorganised sector who are in continuous employment and who have wages of more than Rs 3,000 per month," Principal Secretary (Labour), Kavita Gupta told PTI.

This will benefit the contract workers, daily wage workers and all the workers in continuous employment even in unorganized sector and therefore, these workers will get their full wages through their bank account, she said.

This measure would also benefit their families because of the money being deposited directly into their bank accounts.

Even workers who are not in continuous employment and who do not have wages more than Rs 3,000 per month would be mandated to be paid through cheque or bank account in the district of Thane which will act as a pilot project, Gupta said.