Minimum wage war: Centre forgoes safe stance in SC appeal

The states would milk the Centre by arbitrarily hiking their ‘minimum wages’ if workers in the job guarantee scheme were to be paid by the "minimum wages Act", the Centre cautioned while appealing against a court order quashing power to fix remuneration under MGNREGA.

Union rural development ministry has sought revision of the Karnataka high court order giving in to the finance ministry’s pressure despite the fear that it would trigger criticism that the Centre was working against higher wages to poor labourers.

The HC quashed the Centre’s notification of January 2009 that notified job scheme wages as those in force on October 2009 saying it was in violation of the minimum wages Act. RD ministry, headed by Jairam Ramesh, felt it would be politically risky to appeal when the Centre was facing pressure over inflation and the poverty line controversy. The civil society’s opposition to the revision of the HC order seeking ‘minimum agriculture wages’ under the job scheme made the ministry more apprehensive of repercussions. The finance ministry as well as the PMO felt there is a need to delink MGNREGA from the minimum wages Act.

In its SC appeal, the Centre said linking scheme’s remunerations with ‘minimum wages’ would risk the possibility of states raising minimum wages. It would make it difficult for the Centre to decide MGNREGA budget because of the uncertainty over the wages in states.