Kerala govt revises minimum wages; pay rises for agricultural and dairy workers
Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government has revised and increased minimum wages for a wide range of workers, from agricultural labourers and dairy workers to milkmen, while also deciding to bring gymnasium employees under the purview of the Minimum Wages Act. The revised wage structure for gym employees is yet to be finalised.
Earlier, in 2017, the first Pinarayi Vijayan-led government had increased minimum wages for agricultural and dairy sector workers. The minimum wage has been calculated on the basis of eight hours of work per day.
Employees working in warehouses, container freight stations and the paint manufacturing industry have now also been brought under the minimum wage framework.
Revised minimum wages in Kerala
(Old rates in brackets)
- For agricultural operations of a hard nature, such as digging, loading, bund work, mud digging, ridge making, mud fencing, rain pit digging, digging ponds for agricultural purposes, green manure preparation and trimming of trees, the minimum daily wage has been fixed at ₹830 (₹490).
- For work of a light nature, including weeding, aquatic weed removal, planting, sowing and paddy sacking, the revised wage is ₹710 (₹410).
- Workers operating tractors or tillers for ploughing will now receive ₹170 per hour (₹110), while those engaged in mechanised sawing will be paid ₹160 per hour (₹100).
- In the dairy sector, wages for milking work performed twice a day have been raised to ₹850 (₹505), while milking combined with other duties will attract ₹940 (₹570).
- Sire bull caretaker work has also been fixed at ₹940 (₹570).
- For tasks including cattle feeding, cleaning cattle, removing cow dung from cowsheds, cattle rearing, cowshed cleaning, hay drying, loading cattle feed, grass and fertilisers, spade work and other manual work in fodder fields, silage pits and cowsheds, the minimum wage has been revised to ₹810 (₹480).
- Unskilled nursery work will now earn ₹730 (₹420), while skilled work has been fixed at ₹830 (₹490).
- For piece-rate work, wages have been set at ₹1 per soil-filled cover (50 paise) and ₹20 per kilogram (₹12) for collecting dung.
- Activities such as clear felling, ploughing, spraying and manuring will attract a revised wage of ₹710 (₹410).