The latest report titled State of Working India (SWI) 2023 by Azim Premji University’s Centre for Sustainable Employment points to wage stagnation in post-Covid India. It shows that its consequences are deeply worrying.
The SWI report offers fresh evidence of wage stagnation in the last five years. Its findings have already been widely reported for its insights on structural changes in employment in the country. There has been a rise in the number of regular-wage or salaried workers and a decline in agricultural employment share within the various categories of youth, Scheduled Castes (SCs) and women.
Depressed wages are partly a function of an uncertain job market and increased contractualisation. The annual survey of industries data released by the Labour Bureau in July 2023 showed that the trend began before Covid. Employing contract workers increased by as much as 71 per cent between 2018-19 and 2019-20. This is a trend that needs to be flagged.
The national floor level minimum wage set by the labour ministry is Rs 176 per day or Rs 5,280 a month. This is the rate below which states should not fix their minimum wages. It was last revised in 2017, though it is supposed to be revised every two years. That’s how casual the government is about setting minimum wage rates. Meanwhile, inflation is causing havoc on household incomes.
by SEVANTI NINAN
09/102023