Labour Ministry revises minimum wages of central sphere workers

A labourer, wearing an improvised protective mask, welds steel bars at a residential construction site in Quzhou, Zhejiang province April 3, 2014. Chinese steel and iron ore futures edged higher on Thursday, spurred by Beijing's move to hasten construction of railway lines to support a slowing economy, although gains were capped since the boost to steel demand is likely to be limited. REUTERS/Stringer (CHINA - Tags: BUSINESS COMMODITIES SOCIETY CONSTRUCTION) CHINA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN CHINA - RTR3JQYS

The Labour Ministry on May 21  revised the minimum wages of the central sphere workers by revising the Variable Dearness Allowance (VDA).

The new rate will be effective retrospectively from April 1 and is expected to benefit 1.50 crore workers.

"This will benefit about 1.50 crore workers engaged in various scheduled employments in central sphere across the country. This hike in VDA will support these workers particularly in the current pandemic times," said Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar.

The VDA is revised on the basis of average Consumer Price Index for industrial workers (CPI-IW). The average CPI-IW for the months of July to December 2020 was used for undertaking the latest VDA revision, Labour Ministry said in a statement.

The rates fixed for scheduled employment in Central sphere are applicable to the establishments under the authority of central government, railway administration, mines, oil fields, major ports or any corporation established by the Central Government. These rates are equally applicable to contract and casual workers.

The new VDA for unskilled construction or maintenance of roads or runways or building operations workers will be Rs. 645 for A category cities, Rs. 539 for B category cities and Rs. 431 for C category cities.

For mines employees, the new rate varies between Rs. 431 and Rs. 840.