ECONOMY

Haryana govt increases minimum wages of unskilled, skilled workers by Rs 1,700 and Rs 3,163 respectively

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced this while addressing a gathering here on the occasion of 'Haryana Day' today. (Reuters)

Haryana government today announced to increase the monthly minimum wages of unskilled labourers from Rs 5,900 to Rs 7,600 and that of skilled labourers from Rs 6,536 to Rs 9,699.

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced this while addressing a gathering here on the occasion of ‘Haryana Day’ today.

Besides, he also announced that Social Welfare Department would set up its centres at block and sub-divisional level so that the people do not have to visit the district headquarters to get themselves enrolled for various social security pension schemes.

‘Haryana Day’ is celebrated on November 1 to mark the creation of a state from the then joint Punjab in 1966.

Khattar announced that a new scheme of social audit would be implemented at village level to ensure transparency in the development works and keep a check on corruption.

Stressing that the state government was committed towards the welfare of government employees, he announced that their salaries could also be increased.

The Chief Minister claimed that during the previous government, the beneficiaries of various social security pensions did not get their pension on time.

“During an audit in Karnal alone, a scam of Rs five crore in the distribution of old age allowance had been unearthed,” he said.

He said in order to streamline the pension distribution system, the present state government has decided to disburse the social security pensions through banks and post offices and in some cases through Business Correspondents of banks.

In a survey, about two lakh accounts of beneficiaries in the State have been found to be fake and added that this would save Rs 24 crore of the government at the rate of Rs 1,200 per month.

Khattar said under social audit scheme, village-level Social Audit Committees would be set up in the State and payment of only those bills would be made which would be approved by these committees.

“This system would help in eradicating the menace of corruption and discourage the commission agents,” he said.
Khattar called upon the people to give their cooperation to root out corruption at all levels.

He said, “we all are the trustee of government money and we have to ensure that it is fully utilised for the State’s development and welfare of people.”

On the occasion, the Chief Minister announced a number of incentives to the tune of Rs 129 crore for the people of Yamunanagar assembly constituency.

Giving assurance to the sugarcane growers in the State, he said sugarcane of each and every farmer would be purchased.

The Saraswati Sugar Mill, Yamunanagar would be operational from December 1. He said on his initiative, the Sugar Mill authorities have agreed to shift the Mill to 10 km away from the city.

“This would not only prove to be beneficial for the farmers but also decongest the traffic,” he said.

Congratulating people of the state on the occasion of Haryana Day, the Chief Minister said from today we are entering into the 50th year of the state’s existence and the State government has decided to observe this year as the Golden Jubilee year.

Meanwhile, in another function, Khattar said while the State was divided on the basis of caste and region before the present government came to power, “it is now gaining fame as ‘Haryana Ek-Haryanvi Ek’.

This is a big achievement for the State”, he said addressing the gathering during the inaugural function of the Harmony-2015 International Cultural Festival organised by the National Integrated Forum of Artists and Activists (NIFAA) in Karnal today

[“source -financialexpress”]