Minimum wages of agricultural workers hiked

New Delhi, Nov 22 (UNI) Agricultural workers in Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Lucknow will now get higher minimum wages ranging from Rs 120.37 in unskilled category to Rs 161.41 in highly skilled category.

According to the Chief Labour Commissioner (Central), the minimum wages of agricultural workers in all categories have been increased with effect from October 1 with a rise in the variable dearness allowance (VDA).

The new VDA rates are calculated on six monthly average of Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers reaching 361 from 255 as on June 30, 2006 (base (2001=100 ).

Unskilled workers in category A area will now receive Rs 120.37, an increase of Rs 6.37; in category B Rs 109.79, a rise of Rs 5.79; and category C Rs 107.78, a hike of Rs 5.78, the Labour Ministry announced today.

Semi-skilled and unskilled supervisor in A area will get Rs 131.95, a hike of Rs 6.95; in B area Rs 122.38, an increase of Rs 6.38; and C area Rs 112.81, a rise of Rs 5.81.

Skilled workers and clerical staff in A area will receive Rs 144.54, an increase of Rs 7.54; B area Rs 131.95, a jump of Rs 6.95; and C area Rs 121.37, a hike of Rs 6.37.

Highly skilled workers in A area will get Rs 161.41, a rise of Rs 8.41; B area Rs 148.82, a hike of Rs 7.82; and C area Rs 131.78, an increase of Rs 6.78.

The urban agglomeration (UA) falling under area A are: Ahmedabad (UA), Greater Bombay (UA), Chennai (UA), Bangalore (UA), Hyderabad (UA), Nagpur (UA), Calcutta (UA), Kanpur (UA), Delhi (UA), and Lucknow (UA) Area B: Agra (UA), Ghaziabad (UA), Meerut (UA), Ajmer (UA), Gorakhpur (UA), Moradabad (UA), Aligarh (UA) Guwahati, Mysore (UA), Allahabad (UA), Guntur Nasik (UA), Amaravati (UA), Gwalior (UA), Pune (UA), Aurangabad (UA), Indore (UA), Patna (UA), Bareilly (UA), Hubli-Dharwad Raipur Bhavnagar/Bhopal Jabalpur (UA), Rajkot Bikaner Jaipur (UA), Ranchi (UA), Bhubaneshwar, Jalandhar, Sholapur (UA), Amritsar, Jamshedpur (UA), Srinagar (UA), Calicut (UA), Jodhpur, Surat (UA), Chandigarh (UA), Kolhapur (UA), Thiruvananthapuram (UA), Cochin (UA), Kalyan, Ulhasnagar, Coimbatore (UA), Kota, Vadodara (UA), Cuttack (UA), Ludhiana, Varanasi (UA), Durgapur, Madurai (UA), Vijaywada (UA), Faridabad Complex, Vishakhapatnam (UA) Warangal.

Area C comprise those cities not mentioned in the list.

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