The All India Central Council of Trade Unions has strongly objected to the minimum wage notification issued by the Karnataka Labour Department, stating that the proposed wages are grossly inadequate and fail to meet even the basic requirements of workers and their families. The organisation has demanded a substantial increase in minimum wages to at least Rs 40,410 per month, asserting that the current framework ignores rising prices, changing living conditions and the real needs of the working class.
In its submission to the Labour Secretary, Government of Karnataka and Labour Commissioner, AICCTU pointed out that the calculation of minimum wages remains deeply flawed and continues to underestimate the cost of survival. It stated that minimum wages must cover food, clothing, housing, education, healthcare and other essential needs, but the proposed rates fall far short of this requirement.
AICCTU emphasised that the existing calculation based on 3 consumption units (the male adult (husband) is assigned 1.0 unit, the female adult (wife) is assigned 0.8 unit, and two children are assigned 0.6 units each. This results in a total of 3.0 consumption units) is outdated and unrealistic. It demanded that consumption units be revised to 5.6 units to account for equal nutritional needs of women, the requirements of growing children and the responsibility of supporting elderly parents. It pointed out that assigning lower consumption units to women is discriminatory and ignores the serious health crisis among women, including high levels of anaemia.
The organisation also highlighted the alarming levels of malnutrition among children in Karnataka, stating that the current framework grossly underestimates their nutritional needs. It stressed that minimum wage calculations must be based on the real conditions of workers’ lives and ensure adequate nutrition for all members of the family.
AICCTU further pointed out that the food component used in wage calculations is unrealistic as it is based on a vegetarian diet, which does not reflect the actual dietary practices of the majority of the population in Karnataka. It stressed that fish, meat and eggs must be included while calculating food costs, as excluding them leads to a serious underestimation of the cost of living.
Based on detailed calculations of food, clothing and housing costs, AICCTU demanded that the minimum wages would be Rs. 40,410.45/- for unskilled workers in Zone-1 (calculated at 3.0 consumption units) and ought to be notified after scaling it proportionally for the suggested increase to 5.6 consumption units as detailed above. Since the minimum wages for unskilled workers in Zone I has been calculated, a negative differential of 2.5% between Zones I to II and, 2.5% between Zones IL to III should be applied to arrive at the minimum wages for Zones II and III.
The organisation said that the continuous rise in prices has made survival increasingly difficult for workers, while wages remain disconnected from reality. It asserted that fixing such low wages pushes workers into deeper poverty and exploitation.
AICCTU also demanded an upward revision in the rate of neutralisation of dearness allowance to a uniform 6 paise per day and called for fair wage differentials across zones. It stressed that minimum wages must be revised regularly and implemented retrospectively from the due date of revision so that workers are not deprived of their rightful earnings.
The organisation demanded that the state government immediately withdraw the notification and revise minimum wages in line with the actual cost of living, ensuring dignity and justice for workers and their families.
