Industries oppose Labour Dept plan to hike minimum wage; govt may call stakeholders' meeting soon
Bengaluru: Karnataka government has decided to review Labour Minister Santhosh Lad’s plan to hike the minimum wages of over 1.7 crore employees in 84 different companies owing to pressure from the company managements.
Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar also recently assured the industries that no hurried decision would be taken in the matter without consulting the managements, according to a report by Deccan Herald.
The government has proposed minimum wages in the range of Rs 31,114 to Rs 23,276 for unskilled labourers across three zones (zone 1 – Bengaluru Urban and BBMP limits, zone 2 – city corporations and district headquarters and zone 3 – regions except zones 1 and 2.)
The two-month window period given by the government to receive objections to the draft notification ended on June 25 and up to 160 industries, including the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI), the Karnataka Small Scale Industries Association, the Adani Group and the Karnataka Employers’ Association, are learned to have raised objections, telling the Labour Department that the proposals were ‘too steep’.
Karnataka High Court has issued a notice to the state government following a petition filed by the Nanjappa Hospitals-Shivamogga taking objection to the notification. The government has responded with an assurance to the HC that representatives of industries would be consulted before taking any action regarding the wages. The HC, however, has said that the petitioners are free to move the court to seek appropriate relief in the matter.
Trade unions, on the other hand, have welcomed the government’s notification in principle, but they have also sought wages higher than the government’s proposal by citing the Supreme Court’s guidelines in the landmark Reptakos Brett Case of 1991, where the apex court emphasized the importance of a fair wage and the need to protect established benefits.
The All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) and the All India Central Council of Trade Unions have asked for minimum wages in the range of Rs 40,410 to Rs 33,902 for unskilled workers in zones 1-3 based on present-day prices of food, clothing and shelter.
In accordance with the Mandate of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, the Labour Department has decided to urge the government to call a meeting of the Minimum Wages Advisory Board, which includes representatives of unions, managements and government officials in equal numbers, to finalize the prices. The file is reportedly likely to reach the government within the next couple of days.
Sources in the Department, however, have said that the stiff opposition from the industries remains a hurdle for the government’s plan to take a quick decision. Minister Lad too is learned to have said that the due procedure would be followed and a Minimum Wages Advisory Board meeting would be held within a month to take a decision after consulting opinions of all stakeholders.
AITUC State Secretary Satyanand Mukund has also asked the government to take a decision soon as the window period has ended.
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SC slams WhatsApp, Meta over privacy policy, says will pass interim order on Feb 9
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday came down heavily on Meta Platforms Inc and WhatsApp while hearing their appeals against a Competition Commission of India order imposing a penalty of Rs 213.14 crore over the privacy policy, saying tech giants cannot “play with the right to privacy of citizens in the name of data sharing”.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi said that it will pass an interim order on February 9. The top court ordered that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology be made a party to the petitions.
It was hearing appeals filed by Meta and WhatsApp against a National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) judgment that upheld the CCI’s findings of abuse of dominance, while granting limited relief on advertising-related data sharing.
"You can't play with the right of privacy of this country in the name of data sharing. We will not allow you to share a single word of the data, either you give an undertaking...you cannot violate the right of privacy of citizens,” the CJI said.
The bench said the right to privacy is zealously guarded in the country and noted that the privacy terms are “so cleverly crafted” that a common person cannot understand them.
“This is a decent way of committing theft of private information, we will not allow you to do that... You have to give an undertaking otherwise, we have to pass an order,” the CJI said.
