Guwahati, Sept 2: A state level multi-stakeholder consultation on setting of adequate wages for the tea plantation workers in the State of Assam was organised jointly by Labour Department, Assam and ILO, New Delhi, today under the Chairpersonship of the Principal Secretary Labour and Welfare, Assam, and in the presence of the Labour Commissioner, at Administrative Staff College here.
The meeting was graced by the presence of two eminent resource persons from the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Anoop Satpathy, Wage Specialist, ILO and Ranjit Prakash, National Project Coordinator, Setting Adequate Wages (SAW) Project, ILO.
The ILO officials highlighted the commitment and proactive approach of the Assam Government in ensuring adequate wage to the workers. Prakash, the National Coordinator, emphasised that Assam is the first state in the country to move forward to fix the minimum wage adequately in scientific manner and through social dialogue as per the ILO’s labour standard, which will become a model state for many states of the country as well as some parts of the world.
A tripartite discussion happened on the existing wage situation and all participants appreciated the Government’s suggestion to fix the minimum wage adequately in the tea gardens scientifically as per the determinants given in Labour standards, with technical support of ILO.
It was decided to have a balance approach and fix such wages through dialogu as facilitated by ILO. the agreed to proceed with the collaboration of Government of Assam and ILO as per the blueprint presented by the ILO.
The state level consultation was preceded by the Minimum Wages Advisory Committee, held under the Chairpersonship of the Labour commissioner, Assam, on 31/008/2023 at Shram Bhawan, Ulubari, Guwahati, where the representatives from ILO were also present.
The roadmap along with methodology of “setting adequate wages” for the scheduled employment was discussed in details by the representatives of the Workers, Employers and the subject matter experts, as members of the Committee. ILO presented the preparatory activities on moving towards evidence based wage setting in the state and all the members appreciated the progress so far.
It was agreed that this subject being highly technical requires several rounds of consultations before announcement of the adequate minimum wage but should be completed in the timely manner as agreed earlies by the Committee.
This Committee also agreed with the Labour Department’s proposal to widen the scope of coverage of workers by including domestic workers under the Minimum Wage Board, which was appreciated by all and agreed to proceed with.
Earlier, the Principal Secretary welcomed the representatives from the Government, representatives from Tea Garden Management Associations, Tea Garden Unions and other experts.
He highlighted the commitment of the Government to fix the Minimum Wage in Tea gardens in scientific manner and in accordance with the International Labour Standards.
He welcomed ILO’s collaboration and technical support in fixing the adequate wages across the state in timely manner.