Kerala to revise minimum wages for private hospital workers

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala General Education and Labour Minister V Sivankutty on Saturday directed that a draft notification revising the minimum wages of employees in the private hospital sector in the State be issued in the official Gazette within one month, IANS reported.

The directive was given to the Labour Department Secretary at a meeting of the Private Hospital Industrial Relations Committee held in Thiruvananthapuram.

The decision to issue the notification directly under Section 5(1)(b) of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, was taken in view of the failure to arrive at a consensus through discussions held by the Minimum Wages Committee due to non-cooperation by management representatives.

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, agreement could not be reached because of the rigid stance adopted by management representatives.

The Minister pointed out that in a majority of private hospitals, wages are still being paid in accordance with the 2013 notification, which he said is inadequate for workers to sustain their families under the present living conditions.

Ensuring better wages for workers is the responsibility of the government, Sivankutty said, adding that discussions cannot be allowed to continue indefinitely.

He noted that trade unions had already accepted a proposal for a 60 per cent wage increase, prepared at the departmental level based on the 2013 notification.

The Minister also clarified that the proposal would not impose any additional financial burden on hospitals.

He further stated that while issuing the draft notification, the government would take into account the demands raised by organisations such as the Indian Association of Physiotherapists, Kerala Private Pharmacists Association, Indian Society of Radiographers and Technologists, and the Indian Speech Language and Hearing Association.