Wage hikes for govt staffers may not need House okay

NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a parliamentary committee’s recommendation that the government should be empowered to periodically enhance the wage ceiling on the basis of Consumer Price Index (CPI) by gazette notification rather than by amending the relevant Act in Parliament repeatedly.

Accepting the recommendations of the department-related Standing Committee on Labour and Welfare regarding the Payment of Wages (Amendment) Bill, 2002, the Cabinet has decided that necessary amendments to the Bill in the Rajya Sabha should be moved.

On the responsibility for payment of wages to workers employed through a contractor or a person designated by the employer, the committee recommended that there should be enough measures to “safeguard the interests of the workers�.

In its 23rd report on the Bill, presented two years ago to the 13th Lok Sabha, the committee had noted with serious concern that the government had brought the Bill for raising the wage ceiling in the Act from Rs 1,600 per month to Rs 6,500 per month after a “lapse of 20 years�.

The Amendment Bill to remove ambiguities and enhance the wage ceiling in the Act was introduced in Rajya Sabha on May 16, ’02 and was referred to the department-related Standing Committee of Parliament on Labour and Welfare.
At present, only those workers whose wages are less than Rs 1,600 per month and who are working in a factory or railway administration come under the purview of the Act.