Govt hikes minimum wage for contract workers to Rs 10,000

New Delhi: The minimum wage for contract workers has been increased to Rs 10,000 per month, Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya said on Monday.[caption id=“attachment_2113759” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya. Image courtesy PIB[/caption] The Minister of State for Labour and Employment informed Lok Sabha that the wage hike has been done based on a Supreme Court verdict. Asserting that the government is committed towards the betterment of the working class, he said workers are being protected through all the rights. “Recently, we have increased minimum wage to Rs 10,000 at the national level taking into consideration the Consumer Price Index and Dearness Allowance. This was based on the verdict of the Supreme Court. We have linked this increase of minimum wage to pension and bonus,” he said during Question Hour. On 17 April, Dattatreya had said the government would bring out an executive order to ensure that contract workers get a minimum wage of Rs 10,000 per month. “It is the endeavour of the Central government to make reforms in labour laws and to proceed from minimum wage to universal wage. Because the Opposition is not cooperating in Parliament, we will do it through an executive order,” he had said. “We have taken a decision to make changes to rule 25 of the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Central Rules. Every contract worker will be entitled to get Rs 10,000 per month,” Dattatreya had said. PTI