Kerala’s General Education and Labour Minister V. Sivankutty on Saturday directed the state Labour Department to prepare and publish a draft notification within one month to revise the minimum wages of employees in the private hospital sector. The draft is expected to be notified in the official Gazette as part of the wage revision process.
The decision came during a meeting of the Private Hospital Industrial Relations Committee in Thiruvananthapuram. The minister said that talks through the Minimum Wages Committee had failed to reach an agreement due to a lack of cooperation from hospital management representatives, prompting the government to take direct action under Section 5(1)(b) of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948.
A government-appointed committee, set up in October 2023, examined evidence across all 14 districts and held multiple discussions, but consensus could not be reached because management maintained a rigid stance. Many private hospitals continue to pay wages based on the 2013 notification, which Sivankutty said is insufficient for workers to meet current living expenses.
Trade unions have already agreed to a departmental proposal that recommends a 60% increase in wages, and the minister stressed that the revision will not impose additional financial burden on hospitals. The government will also consider input from professional groups such as the Indian Association of Physiotherapists, Kerala Private Pharmacists Association, Indian Society of Radiographers and Technologists, and the Indian Speech Language and Hearing Association while finalising the draft.
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