Minimum wage hike for unskilled labourers 'historic': Jaitley

 Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said the "historic hike" in minimum wages to Rs 350/day is a step forward in transforming India and labour reforms.

To appease trade unions, the government on Tuesday announced a 42 per cent increase in the minimum wages for unskilled non-agricultural workers to Rs 350 per day from the current Rs 246. Also, the government employees will be paid a wage bonus as per revised norms, for 2014-15 and 2015-16, a move that will entail a payout of Rs 1,920 crore.

"Historic hike in minimum wages for unskilled non-agricultural workers to Rs 350/day is a step forward in Transforming India and labour reforms," Jaitley tweeted. The decision to pay bonus for years 2014-15 and 2015-16 on revised norms reiterates government's "commitment to work for the benefit of workers".

Trade unions, which are demanding minimum monthly wage of Rs 18,000 per month or Rs 692 a day and base pension of Rs 3,000 a month have said however that they would go ahead with the day-long strike on September 2. The strike call is being supported by almost all major labour unions except RSS-affiliated BMS, and may impact banking and insurance services, power supplies and coal mining.