A day after the Delhi High Court quashed the State Government's notification on minimum wages, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said the ruling will put a huge financial stress on workers.
“large number of daily wage earners in Delhi started getting increased wages of
Rs 13,500 per month instead of Rs 9,500 for more than a year. With HC judgement, suddenly, their wages will be reduced. They will be put under huge financial stress. A huge setback for them,” Kejriwal said in a series of tweets.
In another tweet he said “Some employers are planning to recover increased wages which they had paid for last one year since the notification has been declared void ab initio. If that starts happening, it will bring untold miseries to the poor,”.
Reacting on the issue, Gopal Rai, Minister for Employment, Development and labour said that a meeting of the labour Department has called in this regard on Monday to decide the future course of action including the next legal remedy available to the Government.
The Government disagrees with the court verdict and views with extreme disappointment the erroneous conclusion arrived at by the court, after having heard the matter for almost a year and a half, and after having kept the verdict reserved for many months, the minister said in a statement.
“Delhi Government is committed to ensure a life of dignity for workers earning their livelihood in the national Capital, and will take recourse to all remedies available to it for effectively enforcing minimum wages in all sectors,” it stated.
Rai further said that the Government is studying the High Court verdict and will arrive at a conclusion very soon on how to ensure the implementation of revised higher minimum wages for workers in all categories. “The implementation of higher wages for workers already has been delayed by many years due to various reasons, including the needless objections by the previous lieutenant Governor of Delhi, and later by the High Court's direction of not taking any coercive action against those not paying minimum wages to workers,” he added.
It is beyond any reasonable understanding as to how a decision to recommend revised higher wages for workers, which was taken after at least seven meeting spanning over six months could be termed as “hurried, he said.
The court on Saturday quashed two notifications issued by the Kejriwal government last year, one for revision of minimum wages for all scheduled employments and the other for setting up of an advisory panel for the purpose.
Rai further said that the Government will continue its struggle for ensuring a better life for workers and all sections of the society.