Kerala to issue draft notification on minimum wages for pvt hospital staff in a month: Min

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 27 (PTI) The Kerala government will issue a draft notification within a month to revise minimum wages for employees in the private hospital sector, state Labour Minister V Sivankutty said on Saturday.

He directed the Labour Department Secretary to publish the draft in the official gazette following failure of talks held through the Minimum Wages Committee due to non-cooperation from management representatives.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Private Hospital Industrial Relations Committee here, the minister's office said here in a statement.

Sivankutty said the government would invoke Section 5(1)(b) of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, which empowers it to directly notify revised wages.

A committee constituted by the government in October 2023 to revise wages had conducted evidence collection in all 14 districts and held several rounds of discussions.

However, no consensus could be reached as management representatives adopted a negative stand, the minister said.

"At present, most private hospitals are paying wages based on the 2013 notification. Considering the present cost of living, these wages are not sufficient for workers to support their families," Sivankutty said.

He said ensuring fair wages for workers was the responsibility of the government and that discussions could not be prolonged indefinitely.

Trade unions had already agreed to a department-level proposal recommending a 60 per cent wage hike based on the 2013 notification, he added.

The minister also clarified that the proposed revision would not impose any additional financial burden on hospitals.

He further said that while issuing the draft notification, the government would consider demands raised by various professional bodies, including the Indian Association of Physiotherapists, Kerala Private Pharmacists Association, Indian Society of Radiographers and Technologists, and the Indian Speech Language and Hearing Association.

Additional Labour Commissioner K M Sunil and members of the Private Hospital Minimum Wages Committee were among those present at the meeting, the statement added. PTI LGK SA