New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will address thousands of contractual workers of Delhi on the historic hike in minimum wages approved by the Delhi Cabinet recently. The event, dubbed the Shramik Samvad, is being held at Talkatora Stadium on September 1 at 3pm.
Addressing a press conference today, Shri Gopal Rai, Minister for Labour & Employment stated: “The minimum wages hike is a major policy push by the Delhi Government and all efforts are being made to make it a success. Besides Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Cabinet colleagues and party MLAs, a large number of representatives of workers’ unions from the Centre as well as Delhi are expected to participate in Shramik Samvad”
The Minister also met HOD’s of Delhi Government Departments and trade unions today to discuss the minimum wage hike program The Delhi Government has proposed a hike in minimum wages by approximately over 50 per cent for every category – unskilled, semi-skilled and unskilled – of workers, which is already the highest in the country.
As per the government’s proposal, the minimum wages for unskilled person will be Rs 14,052 against the existing Rs 9,568 in the national capital. Besides, the same for semi-skilled and skilled persons will increase from Rs 10,582 to Rs 15,471 and from Rs 11,622 to 17,033 respectively.
“The file has been sent to Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung for approval and he has assured that he will decide on the wage hike soon,” Mr Rai said. He added that several trade union representatives have demanded that minimum wage be raised to Rs 20,000 and the government would look into this.
The Shramik Samvad is being organised to explain the rationale behind the government’s decision and how a higher wage will mean more money in the pockets of the poor, which will enable them to spend more and this in turn will stimulate trade and industry.
