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Other States - Rajasthan

Gehlot Government on the mat over minimum wages

Special Correspondent

JAIPUR: Left trade union CITU (Centre of Indian Trade Unions) and activist organisations
associated with the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS)
on Thursday expressed “dissatisfaction” over the hike in minimum wages announced a day before
by the Rajasthan Government.

While CITU was critical of “inadequate” increase in the wages, especially those of the highly skilled
category, the activist bodies expressed “disappointment” over exclusion of the MGNREGS labour
from the hike.

“The present hike is less than the rates proposed by the Labour Department. On the basis of the
price index, the minimum wage should have been Rs.200 and the wage of a semi-skilled worker and
skilled worker Rs.225 and Rs.250 respectively,” said CITU State president Hetram Beniwal and
Ravindra Shukla in a statement.

“The announced hikes in minimum wages have come as a big disappointment. Once again this
shows the insensitivity of the Ashok Gehlot Government towards the working class,” they charged.

As per the hike announced by the State Government, the minimum wages from January 2011 would
be Rs.135 for the unskilled worker, Rs.145 for the semi-skilled and Rs.155 for the skilled labour.
The Government also announced the creation of the category of highly skilled worker to fix its
minimum wage at Rs.205.

“The minimum wage fixed for the highly skilled category also is not acceptable as the trade union
organisations have been demanding a monthly wage of Rs.7,500 (Rs.250 per day) for them. The
escalation in prices necessitates such remuneration for subsistence,” the CITU leaders asserted.

The activists of Suchana Evum Rozgar Ka Adhikar Abhiyan expressed concern over leaving out the
MGNREGS workers from the hike. “It is double standards to discriminate between the labour in
the case of minimum wages,” said the group led by Magsaysay Award winner Aruna Roy. They
demanded immediate announcement of a revision in the minimum wages in the MGNREGS.

A group comprising Ms. Roy, Nikhil Dey and R. D. Vyas, which met Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot,
appealed to him to revise the MGNREGS wages as well.

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