The central government can increase the working hours in offices to 9 hours. In fact, the government has introduced Draft Wage Code Rules, which has proposed to increase the working time in offices from 8 hours to 9 hours. However, the government is still silent on the minimum wage and has not mentioned it in the draft. Most of the old rules have been kept in this draft. Also there is the talk of dividing the salary into three parts based on the geographical future.
Angered by the decision A.K. Padmanabhan, vice president of Centre for Indian Trade Union stated that “Some factories are already pushing people to do nine-hour normal workday. What these wage codes rule is trying to achieve is to regulate it for all. We have opposed the wage code and we shall oppose the rule because they are not talking about workers welfare.”
People associated with RSS-affiliated “Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh” also stated that the vision of new India is missing in this wage code rule. They also said that they will oppose it. People of the trade union stated that the working hours should be reduced to 6 hours per day instead of 8. Also, the trade union has rejected the 375 rupees a day wage. The draft also proposes that the floor wage will be reviewed every five years or less.
After the draft is finalized, the country will be divided into three geographical categories. These include metropolitan area, with a population of 40 million or more, non-metropolitan, with a population of 10-40 lakh. And lastly the rural areas. The rent of the house will be fixed equal to 10% of the minimum wage. However, it is not clear whether there will be any change according to the category. This decision will be quite hard-hitting for the people working in India. Not only the public sector but the people working in MNC’s will be hit as well. Apart from the work people have their personal life which the government fails to understand and is overburdening the people with work and less wage.
