Minimum Wages Act – Revision of VDA from 19.01.2017 to 01.04.2022: Lok Sabha QA

Minimum Wages Act – Revision of VDA from 19.01.2017 to 01.04.2022: Lok Sabha QA

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2463
TO BE ANSWERED ON 01.08.2022

MINIMUM WAGES ACT

2463. SHRIMATI PRATIMA MONDAL:
SHRIMATI KESHARI DEVI PATEL:
SHRI RODMAL NAGAR:
SHRI KHAGEN MURMU:

Will the Minister of LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has classified/proposes to classify domestic work as scheduled employment under the Minimum Wages Act, if so, the details thereof along with the per hour, per day and per month minimum wages fixed for domestic workers in the country, if not, the reasons for excluding domestic workers out of the purview of the Minimum Wages Act;

(b) the number of persons working as domestic workers in the country and the average wages earned, State-wise;

(c) whether the Government proposes to conduct any action plan to survey the domestic workers of the country and if so, the steps being taken for social, economic and educational upliftment of the domestic workers along with the State-wise number of people surveyed so far by the All India Domestic Workers Survey;

(d) whether the Government is aware of the fact that the wages of labourers are withheld for 10 days in private institutions, if so, the details thereof along with the number of institutions found to be negligence in paying wages to workers as per rule in Uttar Pradesh and action taken against them;

(e) the steps taken/monitoring mechanism adopted to ensure minimum wages to the workers of private institutions and contract labourers, State-wise; and

(f) whether the Government proposes to increase the wages of labourers throughout the country at par with increase in the dearness allowance of Government employees at regular interval, if so, the details thereof?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SHRI RAMESWAR TELI)

(a): Domestic work does not form part of the scheduled employments in relation to the establishments in respect of which the Central Government is the appropriate Government under the provisions of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948. As domestic work is performed in households, adding domestic work to the schedule of employments is under the purview of the State Governments.

The Code on Wages, 2019, which subsumes the provisions of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, provides for universal minimum wage across employments in organized and unorganized sector. The said provisions of the Code on Wages, 2019, have not come into force.

(b): As per Census 2011, the number of domestic workers in the country were 47, 81,355. State-wise details are given at the Annexure I. State-wise data on the average wages earned by domestic workers is not maintained centrally.

(c): Labour Bureau under the Ministry of Labour and Employment has launched the fieldwork for the All India Survey on Domestic Workers (DW) in the month of January, 2022 with the objective to estimate the State wise number of Domestic Workers and their socio-economic conditions. The number of First stage Units (FSU) to be covered in 36 States/UTs is 12766 (6190 Rural + 6576 Urban).

Further, the Ministry of Labour & Employment has developed e- SHRAM portal which is a National Database of the Unorganized Workers seeded with Aadhaar. It has been launched on 26.08.2021 and made available to the States/UTs for the registration of unorganized workers including domestic workers on e-SHRAM portal. As on 29.07.2022, more than 28.03 crore unorganized workers have been registered on e-SHRAM portal.

The Unorganized Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008, provides for social security to all unorganized workers including domestic workers. Government has launched Central Sector Schemes like Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Beema Yojana (PMJJBY) and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Beema Yojana (PMSBY) for life and disability cover and Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Man Dhan Yojana (PM-SYM) for pension to the unorganized workers including domestic workers. Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) provides secondary and tertiary health benefits to all unorganized workers including domestic workers who are covered as eligible beneficiaries as per Socio Economic Caste census Data, 2011.

Government has launched various schemes for unorganized sector workers including domestic workers. Domestic Workers Sector Skill Council (DWSSC), under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), is imparting various skill development training programmes to domestic workers. Under Skill India Mission, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) is implementing Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) under which training/orientation is being imparted to candidates in various National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF) aligned job roles across 37 sectors, including Domestic Workers Sector. In the Domestic Workers Sector, training/orientation is given to candidates in four job roles namely, child caretaker (non-clinical), elderly caretaker (non-clinical), general housekeeper and housekeeper-cum-cook aligned to the Domestic Workers Sector Skill Council. Under PMKVY, as on 30.06.2022, around 1.92 lakh candidates have been trained / oriented in the Domestic Worker Sector.

(d) & (e): Under the provisions of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, both the Central and the State Governments are appropriate Governments to enforce the provisions of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, including the provisions relating to non-payment of wages/minimum wages, in their respective jurisdictions. In the Central sphere the enforcement is done through the Inspecting Officers of the Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) commonly designated as Central Industrial Relations Machinery (CIRM) and the compliance in the State Sphere is ensured through the State Enforcement Machinery. The designated inspecting officers conduct regular inspections and in the event of detection of any case of non-payment or underpayment of wages/minimum wages, they direct the employers to make payment of the shortfall of wages. In case of non-compliance, penal provisions prescribed under section 22 of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 are taken recourse to. The details in regard to enforcement of the provisions of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, in scheduled employments in the Central Sphere are Annexure II. Details of enforcement of the provisions of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, in the State sphere are not centrally maintained.

(f): Under the provisions of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, both the Central Government and the State Governments are appropriate Governments to fix, review and revise the minimum wages of the employees employed in the scheduled employments under their respective jurisdictions. In order to take care of the rising prices, the Central Government revises the Variable Dearness Allowance (V.D.A) on basic rates of minimum wages every six months effective from 1st April and 1st October of every year on the basis of Consumer Price Index for Industrial workers. V.D.A. was last revised w.e.f. 01.04.2022. A statement showing increase in the rates of wages on account of increasing V.D.A payable to the employees engaged in the scheduled employments in the Central Sphere is at Annexure III. The details of periodic revision of minimum rates of wages in scheduled employments in the State sphere are not centrally maintained.

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Annexure I

Number of Domestic Workers in Country

Data as per Census 2011

Annexure II

Details of Inspections, Prosecutions and Convictions done under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948

Claim cases under Minimum Wages Act, 1948

Annexure III

STATEMENT SHOWING INCREASED RATES OF MINIMUM WAGES ON ACCOUNT OF REVISION OF VDA FROM 19.01.2017 TO 01.04.2022.

Source: Lok Sabha