In the light of Karnataka High Court directing the State government to follow the Supreme Court guidelines to fix the minimum wages to scheduled employment in the State, the trade and industry bodies have urged the government to go on an appeal against the order and have sought a meeting with the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to discuss the issue.
While the State government notified a wage increase between 5% and 10% for 34 scheduled employments without undertaking ground survey to assess the present-day prices, the High Court asked the government to recalculate the minimum wages based on the guidelines set in a landmark judgement of the Supreme Court in 1992. It has directed the government to re-calculate wages and notify them within two months. There are 105 scheduled employments in the State covering about 1.7 crore workers.
Several trade bodies and industry associations in Karnataka, led by Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry, on Thursday urged the State government to go on an appeal against the single judge order. According to trade bodies, industries especially MSMEs are struggling to pay the existing minimum wages at present. The MSMEs may have to shut down if new revision is implemented as they will not be able to manage the extra pay out.
The joint statement by the FKCCI, BCIC, KASSIA, and Peenya Industrial Association said that the trade unions on behalf of industry workers have asked for an increase by way of revision in Minimum Wages up to ₹ 31,000 per month, and the High Court has allowed the writ petition quashing all the revision notifications.
“Hence, we request the Chief Minister of Karnataka to intervene by challenging the high court order and also to convene a meeting with Industrial Bodies to resolve the issue as the decision of the High Court of Karnataka will affect all Sectors & Establishments,” the joint statement said.
