The High Court said that it is difficult to live in the national capital at a minimum salary of Rs 15,000. The court made this remark during the hearing of a petition challenging the Delhi government's decision to give dearness allowance (DA) to unskilled, semi-skilled, and skilled workers in the capital. The court refused to stay the government's decision.
A division bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh has issued a notice to the Delhi government and the labor department on the basis of this petition and sought an answer. This petition has been filed by the apex trade and industry association of Delhi. In the petition, the notification of October 2019 issued by the Delhi government to revise the minimum wage for all categories of workers and employees and challenged the order of December 7, 2020, of the Labor Department to fix dearness allowance.
Additional Permanent Advocate of Delhi Government Sanjay Ghosh and Advocate Rishab J defended the government's October 2019 notification saying that rates based on food items, textiles, housing, fuel, children's education, the average cost of medical expenses, and other aspects Have been determined He said that before the Delhi government fixed the minimum wage, a Delhi Minimum Wage Advisory Board was formed and it was discussed with all stakeholders including the petitioner organization.
He said the matter was decided through vote after no consensus was reached in the talks and the board members approved the rate on the basis of majority. The organization, which claims to have a representation of around 50,000 micro, small and medium industries (MSMEs) in the national capital, has contended that there is a discrepancy in the order dated December 7, 2020, of the Additional Labor Commissioner of the Department of Labor. He said the DA has been implemented with effect from April 1, 2020, and October 2020. In the petition, the organization has said that the order of December 7, 2020, cannot be implemented with retrospective effect.