Anoop Satpathy committee on “Determining Methodology for Fixation of National Minimum Wage” submitted its report recently

The expert committee under the Chairmanship Dr Anoop Satpathy has recently submitted its report on “Determining the Methodology for Fixation of the National Minimum Wage” to the Government of India (GoI). The report has recommended to fix the need based national minimum wage for India at INR 375 per day (or INR 9,750 per month) as of July 2018, irrespective of sectors, skills, occupations and rural-urban locations for a family comprising of 3.6 consumption unit. It has also recommended to introduce an additional house rent allowance (city compensatory allowance), averaging up to INR 55 per day i.e., INR 1,430 per month for urban workers over and above the NMW. Using the nutritional requirement norms as recommended by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for Indian population, the report has recommended a balanced diet approach which is culturally palatable for fixation of national minimum wage. Accordingly, it has proposed that food items amounting to the level of ± 10% of 2,400 calories, along with proteins ? 50 gm and fats ? 30 gm per day per person to constitute a national level balanced food basket.