A Parliamentary Standing Committee has urged the Ministry of Labour and Employment to raise the National Floor Level Minimum Wage (NFLMW) without any further delay. The floor levels have remained unchanged for several years and no longer reflects current living costs, inflationary pressures, or the essential needs of workers and their families across India, the panel higlighted.
It said the lack of revision erodes real wages and fails to safeguard vulnerable workers, particularly those employed in the informal sector. In its recent report, the committee highlighted that the NFLMW serves as the foundational benchmark for setting minimum wages in various sectors and regions nationwide. The government revised NFLMW in June 2017 to Rs 176 per day from Rs 160 per day, fixed in 2015. The NFLMW per day in 1996 was Rs 35 per day.
Under the Code on Wages, 2019, the statutory floor wage is intended to provide a baseline for income security, especially for those in the unorganised sector. However, the prolonged stagnation of the NFLMW prevents meaningful regular increases in minimum wages, thereby weakening efforts to ensure dignity of labour and promote balanced economic growth, the committee noted.
The panel called for an immediate, comprehensive review and upward adjustment of the NFLMW, drawing on the most recent Consumer Price Index data, nutritional standards, housing costs, education expenses, healthcare requirements, and other vital living expenditures. The process should rely on transparent, evidence-based criteria and involve broad consultations with workers’ representatives, employers, state governments, and all relevant stakeholders.
Furthermore, the committee recommended establishing a formal mechanism for regular and automatic periodic revisions of the floor wage to shield it from inflation-driven erosion and maintain its relevance over time. It asked the ministry to provide a clear timeline for the revision within three months of the report’s presentation.
The committee also noted that that while states are required to set their minimum wages at or above the notified national floor level, in certain instances the minimum wages fixed by some states tend to remain “close to or, in effect, fall below the notified floor wage when adjustments across different categories and employments are considered.”
These recommendations arrive as the Code on Wages framework seeks to extend uniform protections nationwide, including to the vast unorganised workforce that forms the backbone of India’s economy.