The issue was raised by former minister and MLA Prafulla Ghadai who said though the committee set up to fix minimum wages have already submitted its report, the government is yet to announce the new wage slabs.
Stating that the government had announced the minimum wage in 2009, Ghadai said the rates in neighbouring states should be taken into consideration. Senior BJD member R P Swain too supported Ghadai and sought immediate announcement of
the new minimum wage rates.
Supporting the ruling BJD members, Congress Chief Whip Prasad Harichandan said the government should now announce new minimum wage.
At the same time, government must increase the minimum support price for paddy as increase in minimum wage would hit the agriculture sector, he said.
Leader of opposition Bhupinder Singh of Congress demanded increase in the subsidy amount on paddy as done by other states. He demanded minimum support price for paddy between Rs 1700 to Rs 1800 per quintal with subsidy.
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The present minimum support price for paddy was Rs 1080 per quintal which need to be increased to strengthen farmers, Harichandan said.
BJP member Jaynarayan Mishra too demanded immediate revision of minimum wage slabs for the workers.
The minimum wage for unskilled labourers in Odisha is Rs 90 while the rate for semi-skilled labourers has been fixed at Rs 103 and Rs 116 for skilled workers and Rs Rs 129 for highly skilled workers with variable dearness allowance of Rs 2.50.