Informal workers in India suffered a 22.6% fall in wages, even as formal sector employees had their salaries cut by 3.6% on an average, according to a report by the International Labour Organization. Real wage growth in India was one of the lowest in the Asia Pacific, lower than even Pakistan,Sri Lanka, and Vietnam, according to the global report.Countries the world over, or parts thereof, either delayed, froze or rolled back announcements of a minimum wage hike in 2020, ILO said citing Punjab’s decision to withdraw its announcement on minimum wage.
In purchasing power parity (PPP) terms, India’s average monthly gross wage of $215 was third from the bottom among the 30 country grouping in the Asia Pacific region for 2019, just above Bangladesh and Solomon Islands, ILO said. India’s “real wage” grew by a paltry 2.8% in 2015, 2.6% in 2016, and 2.5% in 2017, while it remained flat in 2018. ILO did not give a number for 2019.
It said following years of poor inflation-adjusted wage growth, it will be a net negative for the country as wages fell further in 2020. This has the potential to impact economic recovery and poverty alleviation efforts in the post-covid recovery phase.
Courtesyg: Google (photo)
