Apparel exporters from the national capital, Delhi is disappointed with the interim decision of the Supreme Court regarding minimum wages. The apex court of India directed that a 37 per cent hike in minimum wages be restored thus reversing a Delhi High Court order of August that had scrapped the hike.
Notably, the hiked rates will be available only for three months during which, the Delhi government. will have to reconstitute the Minimum Wage Board and revise its method of fixing wages to arrive at new rates. As far as, arrears are concerned, the decision on it will be taken later.
In May 2017, the state government had announced a 37 per cent hike in minimum wages following a board recommendation to that effect. Now with the effect of court decision minimum wages in Delhi will be Rs. 13,350 for unskilled and Rs. 16,000 for skilled workers respectively.
It is pertinent to mention here that Delhi already enjoys the maximum number of minimum wages across the country.
We at Apparel Resources asked the apparel exporters operating their factories in Delhi about the decision by country’s highest judicial forum and all the exporters showed disappointment on this decision and said that this decision will have cascading effects to adjoining hubs like Gurgaon, Noida or Faridabad (part of National Capital Region or NCR).
“Most of the apparel factories have already shifted from Delhi to NCR. But the court’s decision and allied forces will have impact wage in the nearby state. Workers will ask for more wages while increased cost is already a big issue,” Sudhir Sekhri, MD, Trend Setters International and Chairman, Export Promotion, Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) affirmed us.
Furthermore, he also marked out that he himself shifted his factory from Delhi to Gurgaon and now has only a corporate office in the national capital.
Rajiv Kapoor, Director, Affordable Exports, another exporter running unit in an industrial area of Delhi mentioned that “It will definitely increase our cost. The industry is losing in Delhi and the state government should work in a balanced approach rather than a high hike which is unreasonable.”