Hostel workers seek implementation of revised minimum wages

Workers employed in hostels run by the Backward Classes Welfare and Social Welfare Departments and other government departments launched a letter campaign in front of the Vidyanagar Post Office in Hubballi on Wednesday, seeking implementation of the revised minimum wages.

Speaking after the launch of the campaign, Lakshmi Chinnaguntapalli, a functionary of the Hubballi taluk unit of the Karnataka State Joint Hostel Workers’ Association, said the statutory order revising the minimum wages had come into effect on May 22.

She alleged that workers were still being paid the earlier wages despite the revised rates and that the government had constituted a sub-committee to delay implementation of the revised wages.

The existing wages were inadequate to meet household expenses amid rising prices, she said, demanding that the revised minimum wages be implemented immediately and that wages be paid every month within the stipulated date.