Delhi industry fear rise of Inspector Raj if Minimum Wage punishment implemented

New Delhi, Aug 10 (KNN) In a bid to ensure minimum wages to the workers, Delhi government yesterday tabled the Minimum Wages Amendment bill. Employers that fail to provide the prescribed minimum wage can be penalised with 50,000 and a jail term. The industries in Delhi fear that with punitive action, there will be a rise in Inspector Raj.

Talking to KNN, Ramesh Khanna, Delhi President of the Confederation of All India Traders said that business all over the country isn’t in a very good shape. Post Demonetization and also with the introduction of the  Goods and Services Tax, the industrial sector is already grappling with slowed trade, adding punitive measures under the minimum wage bill will add to the inspector raj that already prevails in different forms.

“The micro and small units are often harassed by inspectors from different departments such as electricity, now with the Delhi government rolling out penalty and jail term for employers will increase the practice” he said.

Khanna further said that the larger problem surrounding the Micro and Tiny sector is that they operate on very small level. For a small unit it is not possible to increase the wage suddenly as it will disturb the entire budget at a time when business is already suffering.

He acknowledged that the workers should be paid well, but the woes of the industrialists should also be taken into consideration. Delhi government did not consult to the MSMEs before drafting the amendment, Khanna complained.

Khanna asserted that the government is following a vague approach in addressing the issue of wage inequality. With abundance of unemployment prevailing, the labour is willing to work at lower wages. Prescribing a punishment alone is not going to address the concern.

According to the amendment bill, the minimum wages for unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled labour were fixed at Rs 13,350, Rs 14,698 and Rs 16,182, respectively. Defaulters can be fined up to 50,000  and/or jailed, under the bill. (KNN/ DA)