Context:

• The Expert Committee led by Anoop Satpathy submitted its report on “Determining the Methodology for Fixation of the National Minimum Wage” to the Government.
• The Committee was constituted by the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment to review and recommend methodology for fixation of National Minimum Wage (NMW) and determine the base level National minimum wage/wages through an evidence-based approach.
• The Report has been placed on the Ministry’s website for facilitating the process of consultation and dialogue among social partners and stakeholders for necessary approval of methodology.
• The report undertook a rigorous analysis and verified the changes in the demographic structure, consumption pattern, nutritional intakes, composition of food baskets and the relative importance of non-food consumption items to address the realities in the Indian context.

Recommendations of the Anoop Satpathy-led Expert Committee:

• The report recommended a balanced diet approach which is culturally edible for fixation of national minimum wage. It proposed a particular amount of food items per day per person to constitute a national level balanced food basket: More or less than 10 percent of 2400 calories + proteins greater than or equal to 50 gm + fats greater than or equal to 30 gm per day per person
• It proposes minimum wage should include reasonable expenditure on essential non-food items such as clothing, fuel, light, house rent, education, medical expenses, footwear and transport which must be equal to the median class.
• It proposes that expenditure on any other non-food items be equivalent to 25-30 percent of the household expenditure distribution as per the survey data of 2011-12 by National Sample Survey Office (NSSO).
• It recommended the fixation of need based National Minimum Wage for India at Rs 375 per day or Rs 9,750 per month irrespective of sectors, skills, occupations and rural-urban locations for a family comprising of 3.6 consumption units.
• It recommended to introduce an additional house rent allowance or city compensatory allowance of Rs 55 per day or Rs 1,430 per month for urban workers, over and above the National Minimum Wage.
• It recommended reviewing the food consumption basket once in every five years, subject to the availability of NSSO-CES data.
• It also recommended revising and updating the basic minimum wage at least in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) every six months to reflect changes in the cost of living.

Different national minimum wages for different geographical regions:

• The Committee recommended different national minimum wages for different geographical regions of the country to suit the local realities.
• For the purpose of estimating national minimum wages at regional levels, it grouped the states into five regions and recommended region specific national minimum wages.