The very concept of deciding a minimum wage below which any consideration against labour ”sold” is basically treated as an exploitation of labour as it is generally the employer’s market that dictates and decides things for the labour and the payment there-against. Binding the scenario by certain norms statutorily, there is a Minimum Wages Act 1948 in force which says all about the minimum wage to be paid both to skilled as well as to unskilled labour in the country. From time to time, Governments in states / UTs and at the centre keep on revising minimum wages payable to all categories of the labour force.
In this connection, the UT Government of Jammu and Kashmir has recently revised minimum rates of wages with respect to scheduled appointments. These include unskilled, partially skilled, highly skilled and those of administrative and ministerial categories. This decision was also going to benefit those appointed as “daily wagers” most of whom are on strike to press for their genuine demands. Details of such revision categories wise are duly notified by the Government which, however, is no detailed economic exercise and was also not a rate of payment quite limited in scope but is conditioned by market dynamics. The decision, however, was long overdue to settle for which an Advisory Board was constituted by the Government which was also represented by some labour organisations and Trade Unions in the spirits of the traditions of maintaining better industrial relations in the UT.
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