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Learning Objective

To know the concept of Statutory, Bare or Basic Minimum


Wage

To understand Fair Wage


To understand Living Wage
The Need-Based Minimum Wage
Some new terms have gained currency in India after independence. There are:

Statutory Minimum Wage


It is the wage determined according to the procedure prescribed
by the relevant provisions of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948.
Once the rates of such wages are fixed, it is the obligation of
the employer to pay them, regardless of his ability to pay. Such
wages are required to be fixed in certain employments where
sweated labour is prevalent, or where there is a great chance of
exploitation of labour.
Bare or Basic Minimum Wage
It is the wage, which is to be fixed in accordance with the awards
and judicial pronouncements of Industrial Tribunals, National
Tribunals and Labour Courts. They are obligatory on the
employers.
Minimum wage, and fair wage and living wage are the terms
used by The Report of the Committee on Fair Wages, set up by
the Government in 1948 to determine the principles on which
fair wages should be based and to suggest how these principles
should be applied. According to this Committee, the minimum
wage should represent the lower limit of a fair wage. The next
higher level is the fair wage, and the highest level of the fair
wage is the living wage.

These issues are very difficult to decide. Moreover, since the cost
of living varies with the price level, it follows that this index
should be periodically reviewed and modified.
However, the principles for determining minimum wages were
evolved by the Government and have been incorporated in the
Minimum Wages Act, 1948, the important principle being that
minimum wages should provide not only for the bare sustenance of life but also for the preservation of the efficiency of
the workers by way of education, medical care and other
amenities.

Living Wage
This wage was recommended by the Committee as a fair wage
and as ultimate goal in a wage policy. It defined a Living Wage as
one which should enable the earner to provide for himself and
his family not only the bare essentials of food, clothing and
shelter but a measure of frugal comfort, including education for
his children, protection against ill-health, requirements of
essential social needs and a measure of insurance against the
more important misfortunes, including old age.
In other words, a living wage was to provide for a standard of
living that would ensure good health for the worker, and his
family as well as a measure of decency, comfort~ education for
his children, and protection against misfortunes. This obviously
implied a high level of living.
Such a wage was so determined by keeping in view the national
income, and the capacity to pay of an industry. The Committee
was of the opinion that although the provision of a living
wage should be the ultimate goal, the present level of national
income did not permit of the payment of a living wage on the
basis of the standards prevalent in more advanced countries.

A Minimum Wage
It has been defined by the Committee as the wage, which
must provide not only for the bare sustenance of life, but for
the preservation of the efficiency of the worker. For this
purpose, the minimum wage must provide for some measure
of education, medical requirements and amenities.

The goal of a living wage was to be achieved in three stages. In


the first stage, the wage to be paid to the entire working class
was to be established and stabilized. In the second stage, fair
wages were to be established in the community-cum-industry.
In the third stage, the working class was to be paid the living
wage.

In other words, a minimum wage should provide for the


sustenance of the workers family, for his efficiency, for the
education of his family, for their medical care and for some
amenities.

The living wage may be somewhere between the lowest level of


the minimum wage and the highest limit of the living wage,
depending upon the bargaining power of labour, the capacity
of the industry to pay, the level of the national income, the
general effect of the wage rise on neighboring industries, the
productivity of labour, the place of industry in the economy of
the country, and the prevailing rates of wages in the same or
similar occupations in neighboring localities.

The question of determining the minimum wage is a very


difficult one for more than one reason. Conditions vary from
place to place, industry to industry and from worker to worker.
The standard of living cannot be determined accurately.
What then should be the quantum of the minimum wage?
What is the size of the family it should support?
Who should decide these questions?

11.622.1

Fair Wage
According to the Committee on Fair Wages, it is the wage
which is above the minimum wage but below the living wage.
The lower limit of the fair wage is obviously the minimum
wage; the upper limit is set by the capacity of the industry to
pay.

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57

COMPENSATITION MANAGEMENT

LESSON 9:
INTRODUCTION TO MINIMUM, FAIR AND LIVING WAGE

COMPENSATITION MANAGEMENT

Between these two limits, the actual wages should depend on


considerations of such factors as:
a. The productivity of labour;
b. The prevailing rates of wages in the same or neighbouring
localities;

Labour Bureau
Government of
India

c. The level of the national income and its distribution; and


d. The place of industry in the economy of the country.

Report
Onevaluation studies on
implementation of The minimum
wages act, 1948
In bidi making establishments in
Madhya pradesh

The Need-Based Minimum Wage


The Indian Labour Conference, at its 15th session held in July
1957, suggested that minimum, wage fixation should be needbased, and should meet the minimum needs of an industrial
worker.
For the calculation of the minimum wage, the Conference
accepted the following norms and recommended that they
should guide all wage-fixing authorities, including the Minimum Wage Committee, Wage-Boards, and adjudicators:
i.

The standard working class family should be taken to


consist of 3 consumption units for the earner; the earnings
of women, children and adolescents should be disregarded;

ii. The minimum food requirements should be calculated on


the basis of the net intake of 2,700 calories, as
recommended by Dr. Akroyd, for an average Indian adult
of moderate activity.
iii. The clothing requirements should be estimated at a per
capita consumption of 18 yards per annum, which would
mean, for an average workers family of four, a total of 72
yards;
iv. In respect of housing, the norms should be the minimum
rent charged by the Government in any area for houses
provided under the Subsidized Housing Scheme followincome groups; and
v. Fuel, lighting and other miscellaneous items of expenditure
should constitute 20 per cent of the total minimum wage.
Ever since the I.L.C. made its recommendations on the needbased minimum wage, attempts were made by several
government and private agencies and trade union organizations
to work out is monetory equivalent. These estimates have
varied considerably.

Tutorial Activity 1.1


Questions
1. What are the different types of wages?
2. What is the difference between minimum wage, living wage
and fair wage?
3. What do you understand by the term need-based
minimum wage and explain the importance of it in
compensation management?
4. Identify an organization, study its compensation package
and find out the kind of wage level offered by it to its
employees.

Tutorial Activity 1.2


Now let us study from the notification below The minimum
wages notified by the Government of Madhya Pradesh and
the employees covered under it.
58

Wages, Earnings and Hours of Work


5.1 Introduction
5.1.1 The Minimum Wages Act, 1948 is both a protective and
beneficial legislation guaranteeing the payment of minimum
rates of wages to the workers in the various Scheduled Employments scattered over different parts of the country. Although
the Act does not provide for registration of establishments, yet
it is applicable to employments where the workers are particularly vulnerable to exploitation, due to ignorance, poverty,
illiteracy and lack of bargaining power.
The workers in bidi industry are scattered over large areas and
do not have collective bargaining power. Therefore, they are in
need of protection. The Act empowers both the Central and
the State Governments to fix and revise the minimum rates of
wages in the Scheduled Employments falling under their
respective jurisdictions.
The bidi making establishments fall under the Scheduled
Employment Tobacco (including Bidi Making) Manufactories in the State Sphere. Therefore, the responsibility for
implementation of the provisions of the Minimum Wages Act,
1948 rests with the State Governments. They notify the
minimum wages for bidi workers within their jurisdiction.
5.1.2 In Madhya Pradesh, the rates of minimum wages for
Bidi Rollers are fixed on a piece rate basis (number of bidis
rolled), the traditional measure being per thousand bidis.
However, fixation and revision of minimum wages is of no
consequence unless these are actually paid to them.
The problems of the bidi workers continue to be a cause of
concern for the labour administrators and enforcement
authorities as the workers often complain of the unfair
treatment at the hands of manufacturers, Contractors and
agents in matters of rejection of finished products, issue of
inadequate quantity and poor quality of raw material (tendu
leaves, tobacco, thread, etc.) as well as the violation of the
provisions of the Bidi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of
Employment) Act, 1966, the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 and
the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976.
The Regional Labour Ministers Conference held during 1994-95
had endorsed the recommendations of the Ministry of Labour
for the Constitution of a Tripartite Standardisation and District
Level Vigilance Committee and had made the following
recommendations in respect of bidi workers:-

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11.622.1

The wage loss due to rejection should not be more than 2.5
percent instead of 5 percent.
Alternatively, the rejected bidis should be returned to workers
after deducting proportionate cost of tendu leaf and tobacco
issued to them at the rates to be fixed by the State Governments from time to time alongwith wages.
The State Governments as well as Welfare Commissioners have
been requested to give wide publicity to the statutory provisions
of the Bidi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment)
Act, 1966, pertaining to rejection of not more than 2.5 percent
bidis of sub-standard quality and ensure that employer/
Contractor supplies tendu leaf of the optimum quality to the
workers. *
* Annual Report 1999-2000, Ministry of Labour, Government
of India,
5.2 Prescribed Rates of Minimum Wages
Tobacco (including bidi making) Manufactories is a Scheduled
Employment originally included in Part-I of the Schedule
appended to the Act. The minimum wages applicable to the
bidi workers at the time of the Study were notified by the State
Government of Madhya Pradesh as provided under Section
3(1)(b) and Section 5 of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948.Prior to
1953, Minimum Wages were fixed at Re. 0.62 to Rs. 1.37 per
thousand bidis.
These wages were revised to Rs. 2.00-2.25 for the first time in
1966.Since then they have been revised several times. The latest
wage revision, which was in force at the time of the study, had
become effective from 1st October, 2000 vide notification No.
1/9/A/5/97/32759-33288 dated 12-10-2000.
The minimum rates of wages for various categories of
employees in Tobacco (including Bidi Making) Manufactories
appearing in Part I of the Schedule were linked to the Consumer Price Index Numbers (Industrial Workers).The revised
rates of minimum wages applicable during the period of study
are given below:Prescribed Minimum rates ofWages for piece rated employees
Class of Employees
Minimum Wages ( in Rs.)
1. Bidi Rolling
36.17(per thousand bidis)
2. Wrapping/Packing/Labelling
Rs. 19.65 per thousand bundles
(a) Pasting of Slips on bidi bundles
Rs. 22.00 perthousand bundles
(i) Labelling, Puda Making etc.
Rs. 15.85 per thousand bundles
(ii) Labelling on both sides of bundles
Rs. 11.26 per thousand bundles
(b) Wrapping and Labelling
Rs.4.76 per thousand bundles
(i) Thin paper labelling
Rs.5.01 perthousand bundles
(ii)Thin paper sticking
Rs. 68.35 perlakh bidis
(iii)Labelling
Rs. 81.05 perlakh bidis
(iv)Puda Making
Rs. 81.05 per lakh bidis
( c) Wrapping on 1000 bundle (each
bundle of 25 bidis)
(i) Wrapping of Horizontal & Vertical
Strips
(ii)Wrapping/Pasting of paper
(iii)Wrapping and Pasting of Trade Mark

11.622.1

In bidi making industry all the time-rated (monthly/daily paid)


workers other than the above mentioned piece rated categories
have been classified into three broad categories as Skilled, Semiskilled and Unskilled workers.
The occupations which comprise these three skill categories are as under: 1. Skilled :
2.Semi-Skilled :
3.Unskilled:

Driver (Heavy Vehicle), Accountant,


Munim, Cashier, Store Keeper, Head Clerk,
Godown keeper
Sorter/Checker, Bhattiwala, Driver (Light
Vehicle), Typist, Billman, Clerk
Loader, Un-loader,
Chowkidar.

Puda

Maker

and

Prescribed rates of Minimum Wages (including V.D.A.) for


time rated employees were as below:
Sl. No.

Skill Category

1.
2.
3.

Skilled
Semi-Skilled
Unskilled.

Monthly
Wages (Rs.)
1995.44
1828.30
1662.80

Daily Wages
(Rs.)
76.75
70.32
63.95

N.B.- The wages include the variable dearness allowance.


5.2.1 These wages have been linked to 1206 points of the
Labour Bureau Series of All-India Consumer Price Index
Numbers for Industrial Workers (Base 1960=100).The Variable
Dearness Allowance (VDA) is payable at the rate of 1 paisa per
point for an increase of 930 points over 1206 points upto
30.09.2001.
5.2.2 The revised rates of minimum wages are subject to the
following conditions:The variable dearness allowances shall be calculated on 1st
October of every year on the basis of the average indices for
twelve months i.e., July to June of the preceding year.
The revised rates of daily wages are to be worked out by
dividing the monthly rates by 26 days.
Wherever the prevailing wages are higher, the revised wages will
not have adverse effect on any employee in any case and the
higher rates shall continue to be paid.
An employee shall be entitled to a guaranteed minimum wage
of Rs.178.00 in case the employer fails to supply sufficient
quantity of raw material for rolling 5600 bidis per week.
The guaranteed wage will include the actual number of bidis
made by an employee during a week from the raw material
supplied to him.
An employee shall not be entitled to the guaranteed wages if he
fails to make full use of the raw material supplied to him while
the raw material so supplied is sufficient for rolling 5600 bidis
per week.
In case an employer fails to supply raw material due to certain
conditions like fire, distress, epidemic etc., which are not under
his control, an employee shall not be entitled to the guaranteed
wages.

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59

COMPENSATITION MANAGEMENT

The minimum quantity of raw material to be issued should be


800 grams of tendu leaf of standard average quality and 300
grams of tobacco for 1000 bidis of standard size.

COMPENSATITION MANAGEMENT

5.3 Mode of Payment


5.3.1 Section 3(2) of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948
empowers the Appropriate Governments to fix the minimum
rates of wages either for time rated work or for piece-rated
work. In bidi making establishments employers have adopted
both the systems of payment of wages i.e., time rate and
piece rate. Wages for bidi rolling, wrapping, packing and
labelling operations are paid on piece rate basis while those in
all other operations on time rate basis.The stratum-wise
system of payments is shown in Table 5.1.
Table 5.1 Percentage Distribution of Employees by
Stratum and System of Payments
Sl. No.

Stratum/ District

Stratum I
Sagar
Stratum II
Jabalpur, Satna
Stratum III
Gwalior, Datiya and Vidisha
Stratum IV
Balaghat
Stratum V
Bhopal, Indore, Devas,
Ujjain& Hoshangabad

2
3
4
5
All Strata

Percentage of employees paid on


the basis of
Time-rate
Piece-rate
16.0
84.0
17.4

82.6

19.2

80.8

24.1

75.9

20.8

79.2

18.5

81.5

5.3.2 It is evident from the Table that major proportion (81.5


percent) of employees were paid on piece rate basis and only
18.5 percent were paid on time rate basis. The proportion of
employees paid on piece rate basis in different Strata oscillated
between 84.0 percent and 75.9 percent the former being in
Stratum I and the later in Stratum IV.
Inter-stratum variation was attributed to the fact that Stratum-I
was the largest bidi producing area dominated by the smaller
establishments of agents and middlemen engaged in getting
the bidis rolled for passing on to bigger or Trade Mark Establishments for wrapping, packing and marketing.
5.3.3 The category-wise system of payment of wages is given
in Table 5.2.It will be seen from the Table that all the Bidi
Rollers, Packers, Labellers and Wrappers were paid on piece rate
basis.All other workers, like,Sorters, Furnace Men, Raw Material
Distributors, Clerks, etc., were paid on time rate basis.
Table 5.2 Percentage Distribution of Bidi Employees by
their Categories and by the System of Payments:
Sl. No.

Categories of Employees

1.
Wrapper/Labeller/Packer
2.
Taraiwala (Sorter)/Checker
3.
Furnaceman (Bhattiwala)
4.
Clerk
5.
Raw Material Distributor
6.
Bidi Roller
All Categories

60

Percentage of Employees
paid on the basis of
Time-rate
Piece-rate
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
18.5
81.5

5.4 Wage Period


5.4.1 Section 3 (3b) of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948
provides for different wage periods ranging from hour to
month. The minimum wages notified by the Government of
Madhya Pradesh for different types of operations were either
time rated or piece rated. The wage periods adopted by the bidi
manufacturers for different categories of employees covered by
the study are presented in Table 5.3.
Table 5.3 Percentage Distribution of Bidi Employees
According to Wage-periods
Sl. No.

Categories of Employees

1
2

Wrapper/Labeller/Packer
Taraiwala
(Sorter)/
Checker
Furnaceman (Bhattiwala)
Clerk
Raw Material Distributor

3
4
5.

6
Bidi Roller
All Categories

Percentage of Employees paid


Monthly Weekly
Total
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0

100.0
100.0

26.5

100.0
73.5

100.0
100.0

5.4.2 It will be seen from the Table that all the factory workers
and office staff viz., Wrappers, Labellers, Raw Material Distributors, and Clerical Staff, etc., were paid on monthly basis.On the
other hand all the Bidi Rollers were paid on weekly basis.
As such the overall proportion of bidi employees paid on
weekly basis worked out to 73.5 percent, as against 26.5 percent
of other workers who were receiving wages on monthly basis.It
was observed that in operations like bidi rolling, wages were
calculated on the basis of daily production and payments were
made on weekly basis or adjusted on a monthly basis.
It was also observed that because of these adjustments after a
week or a month, the Bidi Rollers did not have a clear idea
about their actual earnings.
5.5 Hours of Work
The working hours in the Scheduled Employment Tobacco
(including Bidi Making) Manufactories are governed by the Bidi
and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) Act, 1966.The
Act restricts the hours of work to nine per day and forty eight
per week with a maximum spread over of 10.30 hours per day.
Under the Act no employee can be made to work beyond five
hours without a rest interval of at least half an hour. An adult
employee can work in excess of the prescribed hours of work
subject to the payment of over time wage rate. However, the
period of work should not exceed 10 hours in a day and 54
hours in a week, inclusive of overtime work.
The payment for overtime work has to be made at twice the
ordinary rate of the wages or the average daily full time earnings
in case of piece rate workers. The Minimum Wages Act, 1948 on
the other hand only provides for fixation of normal hours of
work, a weekly day of rest and payment of overtime wages in
the Scheduled Employments by appropriate Government.
However, all these and similar provisions of the Act are of little
consequence to a major proportion of the employees in this
industry comprised of a sizeable number of Bidi Rollers who
roll bidis within the four walls of their houses.

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11.622.1

5.6 Wages and Earnings


1.6.1 During the course of Study, it was observed that although
the big manufacturers were keeping records of the wages paid
to premises workers and the Bidi Rollers who were directly
employed by them, yet the records for Bidi Rollers engaged by
the Contractors were not maintained correctly as they showed
only production.As the payments were made through Contractors, there were, therefore, chances of exploitation of the Bidi
Rollers at the behest of the former.
1.6.2 The employees in bidi making industry constitute a
heterogeneous lot with various categories of bidi workers on
the one extreme and the Bidi Rollers (home workers) engaged
either directly or through the Contractors on the other.The
dependants of the home workers rendering effective assistance
in rolling bidis constitute a large segment of Bidi Rollers who
could not be treated as employees for want of an established
employer-employee relationship.
Hence for properly analysing the earnings of the Bidi Rollers
(home workers), it is necessary to identify and isolate the
contribution of this hidden segment of Bidi Rollers.During
the study, an effort was made to separate the estimated earnings
of these workers from those of the registered or the identified
Bidi Rollers.
5.6.2 Bidi Workers

5.6.2.1 The bidi workers constituted 26.5 per cent of the


employees covered by the Study. Average daily earnings of
different categories of bidi workers are given in Table 5.4.
Table 5.4 Average Daily Earnings of Bidi Workers (in
Rupees)

Sl.
No.
1
2
3
4.
5

11.622.1

Categories
Wrapper, Labeller,
Packers.
Taraiwala/Sorter/
Checker
Furnaceman
(Bhattiwala)
Raw
Material
Distributor
Clerk
All Categories

5.6.2.2 The above table reveals that the average daily earnings
of Clerks were Rs. 89.32 per day, far above the prescribed wages
in the Trade Mark Establishments, in keeping with the requirements of management and responsibilities assigned to
them.For the purpose of the study, Managers have been
clubbed with the clerks because wages had not been notified for
the managerial staff.
The average daily earnings of Clerks worked out to be the
highest (Rs.122.60) in Stratum III and the lowest (Rs.76.71 per
day) in Stratum II.Overall average daily earnings of Raw
Material Distributors and Furnacemen worked out to Rs. 61.62
and Rs. 67.96 respectively.The average earnings of Raw Material
Distributors were the lowest (Rs.57.69 per day) in Stratum III
which were attributed to low wage paid areas of Datiya and
Vidisha dominated by Contractors, Sattedars and Sub-Contractors.
They were not only distributing raw materials but also were
actively involved in collecting the bidis.Surprisingly, a system of
obtaining commission from the Bidi Rollers by the Sattedars to
compensate the low wages paid to them by the Trade Mark
Establishments and Contractors was in vogue.For piece rated
workers viz., Wrappers/Labellers/Packers the average daily
earnings worked out to Rs.62.33.
5.6.3 Bidi Rollers and Helpers

5.6.3.1 In Madhya Pradesh Bidi Rollers constituted the largest


segment among the bidi employees. They collected the raw
material from the Employers or Contractors and rolled the
bidis in their dwellings. They get a lot of assistance from their
family members in rolling bidis.
It is a fact that most of these helping dependants, who were
skilled rollers, did not have registration in any bidi factory as the
manufactures avoided registration of a large number of Bidi
Rollers to evade the fringe benefits due to them .The employers
met their requirements of daily production by giving huge
amounts of raw material to the registered Bidi Rollers for
rolling bidis with the help of their dependants. The average
daily earnings of the Bidi Rollers and their helping dependants
are given in Table 5.5.

Average daily earnings in


Stratum-I
Stratum-II
63.69
66.64

Stratum-III
62.67

Stratum-IV
65.22

Stratum V
50.53

All Strata
62.33

69.29

72.89

51.83

85.17

69.98

68.98

67.93

68.29

66.62

67.13

68.89

67.96

63.96

65.23

57.69

61.11

61.62

89.82
71.31

76.71
69.36

122.60
69.08

80.40
75.14

86.54
65.23

89.32
69.36

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61

COMPENSATITION MANAGEMENT

These home workers do not have any prescribed hours of work


as they roll bidis as and when they are free from their domestic
chores. The premises/factory workers, however, are the real
beneficiaries of these provisions. As far as the Trade Mark
Establishments and the medium sized establishments are
concerned, the provisions of the Act, relating to hours of work,
rest interval, weekly holidays, etc. were being implemented. The
time rated employees were usually working as Clerks, Raw
Material Distributors, Taraiwalas, etc.

COMPENSATITION MANAGEMENT

Table 5.5 Average Daily Earnings of Bidi Rollers and


their Helping Dependants(in Rupees)
Sl. No.

1
2
3
4
5

Average daily earnings of


Stratum/ District

Bidi Rollers

Helping
Dependants

Overall

Stratum I
Sagar
Stratum II
Jabalpur,, Satna
Stratum III
Gwalior, Datiya and Vidisha
Stratum IV
Balaghat
Stratum V
Bhopal, Indore, Devas,
Ujjain&Hoshangabad
All Strata

20.36

14.21

17.77

24.76

19.52

22.31

26.16

20.99

23.76

18.88

17.17

18.01

20.46

14.66

18.00

22.04

16.62

17.88

EXHIBIT 8

The Bidi Rollers did not get regular employment in bidi making
establishments also.They had always remained an exploited lot
in the hands of petty Contractors who did not even keep the
records and registers of the Bidi Rollers.The employment
opportunities in agriculture had also not been encouraging
enough for the Bidi Rollers to lean on.
5.6.3.3 The above table also reveals that the average daily
earnings of the registered Bidi Rollers were substantially higher
than their helping dependants in all the Strata except Stratum
IV where it was marginally higher. It shows that these helping
dependants of Bidi Rollers made a significant contribution
towards the production of the bidi industry, yet they constituted a neglected lot, deprived of the benefits of various labour
laws. With the modern salesmanship entering the bidi industry
the margin of profit in the bidi industry is quite lucrative for the
brands established in the market. There is, therefore, an urgent
need for bringing this hidden work force under the labour laws
with a well defined employer-employee relationship for effective
enforcement of the minimum wage legislation.

Average Daily Earnings of Bidi Rollers and their


Helping Dependants (Table 5.5)

5.6.3.2 It emerges from the Table that in all the five Strata the
wages paid were below the prescribed wage levels. The average
daily earnings of the Bidi Rollers worked out to Rs. 22.04 per
day. The average daily earnings were highest in Stratum III (Rs.
26.16 per day) followed by Stratum II (Rs. 24.76 per day),
Stratum V (Rs. 20.46 per day), Stratum I (Rs. 20.36 per day) and
the lowest in Stratum IV (Rs.18.88 per day).
In Stratum III the highest average daily earnings of Bidi Rollers
were attributed to the non-availability of Bidi Rollers ( whose
average daily earnings were lower than those of Bidi Workers) in
the districts of Gwalior, Datiya and Vidisha where the average
daily employment in the establishments was the lowest.
Moreover, in the absence of any trade unions the Bidi Rollers
were not strong enough to bargain for the prescribed wages.
The other important reasons for low earnings were malpractices
in matters of rejection of finished bidis on the ground of not
conforming to quality standards, issue of inadequate quantity
and poor quality of tendu leaf and tobacco by the employers or
their Contractors or agents.The workers in these areas accepted
whatever wages the employers gave.

62

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11.622.1

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