NEW DELHI: The Delhi government has found 79 establishments violating labour laws prescribed for businesses employing a workforce. Taking a strict stand against three of these establishments which were found in violation, the government has filed FIRs registered against them while the rest are facing scrutiny by the labour department. The establishments were inspected under the government’s ‘Operation Minimum Wages’.
“Under our Operation Minimum Wages campaign, labour inspectors have registered statements of the labour and owners at these places. Different types of violations like non-payment of minimum wages, late payment and not informing employees about the Provident Fund and Employees’ State Insurance are the laws that have found broken,” said Gopal Rai, Minister of Labour.
Police cases were registered against Orian Security Solutions, M/s Global Enterprise and Digital Web Word. In most of the establishments that were inspected, staff members from the housekeeping, security and even engineering departments have raised complaints. Engineers placed by the Public Works Department in hospitals have also raised issues. In order to strictly ensure payment of minimum wages in the national capital, the Delhi government had launched ‘Operation Minimum Wages’ for a period of 10 days starting from December 10.
A total of teams, which are part of the special drive, are carrying out inspections in the city to ensure that establishments are not violating the increased minimum wages and other labour laws. According to guidelines, violators can face a fine of upto 50,000 or jail terms for three years, informed officials that were part of the team. Under the campaign, all district Joint Commissioners will hold meetings with employers in their respective districts to implement the increased rates of minimum wages.
Workers who are not getting minimum wages or have other labour complaints can file their complaints on government helpline number 155214. A key takeaway from the raids was that public places like government-run hospitals were also found to be violating the rules of minimum wages.
Minimum wage
The minimum wages for workers in the capital were revised after a Supreme Court order in October. Starting from October 31, the wages for each category were classified by the government. While unskilled workers will now get 14,000 per month or 538 per day, semi-skilled workers will get 15,400 per month or 592 per day and skilled workers will get 16,962 per month or 652 per day. The government also classifies wages on the basis of education.