Along with the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations of a 28-40 per cent hike in the pay scales of an estimated 4.6 million central government employees, the Centre has also decided to revise the national minimum wage level besides adding new categories of work which can benefit from minimum wages.

The minimum wage of Rs 80, which is applicable to central public sector undertakings, will see a 30 to 40 per cent jump in a single year once the changes are notified.

Security guards, sweepers and cleaners would now be included in the categories of workers who are eligible for national floor level minimum wages. Notifications to this effect would be issued soon. However, the national minimum wage is not enforceable and hence the revision does not necessarily help anyone unless the National Minimum Wage Act, 1948, is amended to that effect.

The decision to hike the minimum wage level was taken by the Central Advisory Board at its meeting chaired by Minister for Labour and Employment Oscar Fernandes last week. The National Floor Level Minimum Wage of Rs 80 is likely to cross Rs 100 once the notification is issued.

Last year, the revision was made from Rs 56 to Rs 80.

The earlier revision took place only in February 2004. Sweepers and cleaners and security guards are to get Rs 180 per day in class-A cities, Rs 150 a day in class-B cities and Rs 120 per day in class-C cities.

States have their own minimum wages and the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, which provides 100 days of wage labour to a member of each rural household, has prompted most of the states to revise their minimum wages. Orissa, for instance, which was paying a mere Rs 50, saw its minimum wages jump to Rs 80, while Uttar Pradesh increased its minimum wages to Rs 100 last year. Labour activists, however, dismiss the central revision of minimum wages, saying it is of no use.

CITU secretary W R Varadarajan said there is no law to enforce the national floor level minimum wage.

"We have been making a case that it should be statutorily enforceable. For now, it is just a decorative piece," he said.

There is a lot of contract labour involved in CPSUs but most of them don't enforce the national floor level minimum wage, he added.

If the government amends the National Minimum Wage Act, 1948, to make it enforceable then it would make sense, he said.