Need-Based Minimum Wage

Comrade,

                  

    The Sixth Central Pay Commission has recommended a minimum wage of Rs 6600/- per month   against the demand of Rs 10,000/-  per month as worked out by Staff side of JCM, Today the minimum need based wage works out to Rs 15,000/ per month+ HRA+ allowances. hence there is  three times increase in actual prices calculated by the 6th CPC and the current prices. The current wages and HRA of the CG Employees should be doubled atleast.

        The most comprehensive criteria for covering all the basic needs were evolved by the 15th Indian Labour Conference (ILC) in 1957 for fixing minimum wages.  The norms are that a need-based minimum wage for a single worker should cover all the needs of a worker’s family consisting of a spouse and two children.  

         The food requirement was to be 2,700 calories, 65 grams of protein and around 45-60  grams of fat as recommended by Dr Wallace Aykroyd for an average Indian adult of moderate activity.  Dr Aykroyd pointed out that animal proteins, such as milk, eggs, fish, liver and meat, are biologically more efficient than vegetable proteins and suggested that they should form at least one-fifth of the total protein.

        Dr Aykroyd worked on nutrition for nearly 30 years and was director of the Nutrition Division, Food and Agriculture Organisation, United Nations.  In 1935, he was appointed director of the government's nutritional research centre in India, situated in Coonoor in the south.

The 15th ILC further resolved that clothing requirements should be based on per capita consumption of 18 yards per annum, which gives 72 yards per annum for the average worker's family.  For housing, the rent corresponding to the minimum area provided under the government's industrial housing schemes was to be taken.  Fuel, lighting and other items of expenditure were to constitute an additional 20% of the total minimum wage.

The Supreme Court upheld these criteria in the case of Unichoy vs State of Kerala in 1961. In the later Raptakos Brett Vs Workmen case of 1991, the SC went one step further, and held that besides the five components enunciated by the 15th ILC, minimum wages should include a sixth component, amounting to 25% of the total minimum wage, to cover children's education, medical treatment, recreation, festivals and ceremonies. The SC also observed that a wage structure including the above six components would be “nothing more than minimum wage at subsistence level” which the workers must get “at all times and under all circumstances”.

Minimum Salary-Analysis &Recommendations para 2.2.15

 The Commission, however, agrees that the norms set by the 15th International Labour Conference (ILC) are appropriate for computing minimum salary. It is also observed that the minimum salary is applicable at the time a person joins the Government which will usually be at a young age when a person may be just married and will not have responsibility of parents or many children. Accordingly, the family unit for minimum salary can only be taken as three.

COC View:

The Minimum Salary should be based on 6 units not three units as per 6^th CPC calculation. As both parents and two children are depending on the salary of Government servant apart from spouse. the additional burden the employees will carry after a few years of service  as his parents would have retired from service and are wholly dependent on him also  his children would have stepped into school / college level,  even small baby requirements are much unlike in the past years, the  hence the minimum wage he gets will not compensate with the family financial burden Hence the whole calculations needs a undergo a drastic change in next CPC taking into account of 6 units rather than 3 units .

  

Table: 

Fixation of Minimum wage as on 1.1.2006 as per 15 ILC norms as per Table 2.2.1 of the 6^th CPC report and the minimum wage as per current prices we compare minimum wage should be  three times the 6^th CPC recommendations.  

Items	Per day PCU (In grams	Per month 3CU (In kg)	Price per kg. taken by 6th CPC (In Rs)	Total cost as per rates of 6thCPC (in Rs) As on 1/1/2006	Price per kg. as per prevailing rates (in Rs) 1/1/13 At Bangalore	Total cost as per prevailing rates (in Rs) 1/1/2013
Rice/wheat	475	42.75	18	769.5	55	2351
Dal (Toor/ Urad / moong	80	7.2	40	288	70	504
Raw Veg.	100	9.00	10	90	40	400
Greenleaf Veg	125	11.25	10	112.5	30	300
Other Veg.	75	6.75	10	67.5	45	450
Fruits	120	10.80	30	324	80	864
Milk	200 Ml	18 Lt.	24.00	432	30	540
Sugar and Jaggery	56	5.00	24.00	120	45	225
Edible Oil	40	3.6	50	180	100	360
Fish		2.5	120	300	180	450
Meat		5.00	120	600	375	1875
Egg		90	02	180	04	360
Detergents etc		200		200	400	400
Clothing		5.5 Mt.	80/Mt	440	200	1100
Total				4103.5		10180
Misc. @ 20%*				827		2035
Total				4930.5		12215
Addl. Exp @ 25%**				400		3054
Total				5330.5		15269
Housing @ 10%***				148		600^
Grand Total				5478.5		15869

Source : Average market rates in Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai as indicated in the Economic Times &

other major dailies (element of 20% has been added to cover the increase in cost in retail sale).

Notes PCU = Per day Consumption Unit 3CU = Three Consumption Units that is wife, husband and a child no parents or second child is taken into account.

* 20% Miscellaneous charges towards fuel, electricity, water etc.

** Additional Expense at the rate of 25% includes expenditure towards education,

medical treatment, housing, recreation, festivals etc.

# Has been taken as Rs.400 because separate allowances for education, medical

treatment and housing exist in the Government. Consequently, only the expenditure

towards recreation & festivals need to be taken in account.

^ Being the license fee chargeable for government accommodation at an average rate of

3% of the basic pay. 

Comradely yours

(P.S.Prasad)

General Secretary