Labour Laws: The new code proposes to merge four laws but it has come under criticism from the opposition.
The Code on Wages, 2019: The Opposition has come down heavily the Code on Wages, 2019 introduced in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, terming it anti-worker. The legislation introduced by labour minister Santosh Gangwar leaves fixing of minimum wages to state governments instead of recommending a national minimum wage. The Code will undermine the long struggle of workers for remunerative wages, said former information and broadcasting minister Manish Tewari. Former Rajya Sabha MP and CPM Politburo member Tapan Sen called it a fraud on workers.
This is the second attempt by the government in the last two years to combine four labour laws for simplification and proper administration of labour welfare laws in the country. However, the move has come under criticism from the opposition parties that have accused the government of diluting the labour protection measures in the existing laws.
In 2017, Modi government introduced the Code on Wages, 2019 that was aimed at replacing four labour laws: (i) the Payment of Wages Act, 1936, (ii) the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, (iii) the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965, and (iv) the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976.
One of the main features of the new bill is that it proposes to fix a minimum national wage rate for workers and no state government will be able to set the minimum wage below the national floor rate in its jurisdiction.
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