Nearly two years after it raised the minimum daily wages of workers in all categories, Odisha on Friday brought about a rise in the wage of unskilled, semi-skilled, skilled and highly skilled labourers in 83 types of different services including agriculture, automobile servicing, repairing, garages and workshops, ayurvedic and Unani pharmacy and bakeries and confectioneries.

In a notification issued by the labour department, the wages of unskilled labourers was raised from Rs 280 to Rs 303.40 while the same for semi-skilled labourers hiked from Rs 320 to Rs 393.40. For skilled labourers, the wages have been raised from Rs 370 to Rs 393.40 while for highly skilled labourers it went up from Rs 430 to Rs 453.40.

The minimum rates of wages are all-inclusive rates including the basic rates, the cost of living allowances and the variable dearness allowance at Rs 0.90 paisa per point rise in All India Consumer Price Index number (base 2001-100). It will be effective in retrospective from April 1, 2020.

Currently, Delhi pays the highest minimum daily wage to labourers of all kinds in the country. Since last year, the Arvind Kejriwal government has made it mandatory for all industries in Delhi to pay the minimum wage of Rs 14,842 per month to unskilled workers, three times more than the national minimum wage of Rs 4,628 per month. In Delhi, the semi-skilled workers get a minimum of Rs 16,341 per month while skilled workers get Rs 17,991 per month.