Re:
See the poverty of the governance strategy for the past several decades regarding the stupid PDS in the agriculture ministry whose minister must be impeached for bulldozing trials of GM crops for India:
http://www.countercurrents.org/pudr260911.htm
Hypocrisy Of The ‘Poverty Line’: Seven Times
Below The Stipulated Minimum wage!
Below The Stipulated Minimum wage!
By Peoples Union for Democratic Rights
26 September, 2011
Countercurrents.org
Countercurrents.org
PUDR wishes to draw public
attention to the recent controversy where Planning Commission informed
the Supreme Court that anyone earning more than Rs 32 in urban and Rs 26
in rural areas per day is considered above the poverty line. Article 43
of India’s Constitution lays down that “(t)he state shall endeavour to
secure by suitable legislation or economic organisation or in any other
way to all workers, agricultural, industrial or otherwise, work, a
living wage conditions of work ensuring a decent standard of life and
full enjoyment of leisure and social and cultural opportunities”.
India’s low ranking in major human development indices and the fact that
an overwhelming majority of the population continue to be denied this
conceptualisation of what would be considered a “fair wage”, raises
disturbing questions with regard to the official standpoint on poverty.
In 1957 at the 15th Indian Labour Conference (ILC)
moves were made towards setting down norms for fixing Minimum Wage, a
euphemism for a “living wage.’’ The 15th ILC recommended that in the
first place the standard working class family should be taken to mean
husband, wife and two children below the age of 14 yrs. Second, minimum
food requirement should be calculated on the basis of 2700 calories
daily per adult man, 2160 for woman and 1620 for the child. Further
clothing requirement of 72 yards for a family per annum would be added
while housing allowance corresponding to the minimum area provided for
under the governments industrial housing schemes. Lastly fuel, lighting
and other items of expenditure should constitute 20 percent of the total
Minimum Wage.
While the Government did not accept these
recommendations, Supreme Court approved these norms through its
judgement in the case of U.Unichoyi v. State of Kerala (AIR 1962 SC 12)
and thereby acquiring the force of law behind it. The apex court through
its judgement in Workmen v. Reptakos Brett & Co Ltd (AIR 1992 SC
504) added a sixth norm – 25 percent of the total Minimum Wage was
supposed to cover children’s education, medical treatment, recreation
etc. The Court observed that these six norms would be nothing more than
Minimum Wage at “subsistence level” which the workers must get “at all
times and under all circumstances”.
Adherence to the six norms, let alone the five norms
laid down by the 15th ILC, has been followed in breach. As a "living
wage", at current wage rates declared under Minimum Wage Act, comes to
Rs 247 per day for unskilled. Rs 32 touted by the Planning Commission as
"below poverty line" is less than seven times the Minimum Wage which
itself is a "subsistence wage". Thus Minimum Wage is seven times that of
BPL rate. What this implies is that mass of our people are being robbed
of their right to life by artificial constructions of poverty line.
PUDR reiterates that the letter and spirit of Article 43 which forms
part of the Directive Principles of State Policy be the basis for
providing basic requirement to all citizens of India so that their right
to a life of dignity and liberty can be ensured.
Harish Dhawan and Paramjeet SinghSecretaries PUDR
What I would remark is the crime of allowing soil fertility loss by such policies of the agriculture ministry whose minister is more interested in cricket while foodgrains rot!
And its a crime to adopt GMOs as the route for food production because it is unacceptably dangerous, applying the precautionary principle. See Is Justice In or Out? at
http://justiceinorout.blogspot.in/2010/06/is-justice-in-or-out.html
See express report impact which caused the government to wake up and distribute the tomatoes to people:
http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/karnataka/Free-Tomatoes-Distributed-in-Devangere/2014/03/07/article2095358.ece#.UxlvWM7bfOQ
An ounce of commonsense is better than book-learning.
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