TS employees seek minimum wage of 15k

Hyderabad: Telangana government employee unions are pinning hopes on Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao to accept their demand on increasing minimum wage when both meet to finalise the extent fitment in the next one or two days.

It may be mentioned here that 10th pay revision committee (PRC) led by PK Agarwal reportedly recommended Rs 13,000 as minimum pay for government employees. According to 9th PRC, employees were getting Rs 6,700 as the minimum wage. Telangana unions are seeking this figure to be revised to Rs 15,000 citing increased cost of living over the last few years. The PRC commission took number of average household size as three and arrived at Rs 13,000 mark.

According to 2011 census, average number of family members per household was four and if calculations were made accordingly, the monthly expenses come to around Rs 15,000, employee unions contended. Telangana Gazetted Officers (TGO) organising secretary Syed Saleemuddin prepared a chart taking into account average quantity of consumption per family.

He pointed out that norm for fixing age were consumption units per earner, minimum food requirement, clothing requirement, house rent corresponding to minimum area provided under government’s industrial housing scheme besides fuel, lighting and other miscellaneous items constitute 20 per cent of total minimum wage.

The Supreme Court in a historic judgment in 1992 stated that children's education, medical requirement, minimum recreation, including festivals, ceremonies, provision for old age and marriage should further constitute 25 per cent as be used as a guide for fixing the minimum wage, he added.

If all these things were taken into consideration, the minimum wage comes to Rs 14,963. Although, PRC recommended Rs 13,000, employees are hopeful that Chief Minister would not have much issue to give a nod to our demand which is just Rs 2,000 extra to the proposed figure, employees pointed out.