Minimum wage of labourers be raised to Rs50,000 per month, suggests Tessori

Sindh Governor Kamran Khan Tessori has proposed that the next provincial government’s budget increase the minimum wage of labourers to Rs50,000 given the unbearable inflation in the country.

He put forth the suggestion to this effect on Monday while speaking at a press conference at the Governor House. Earlier, speaking on the floor of the Sindh Assembly, Sindh Labour Minister Saeed Ghani had also proposed that the minimum wage of the workers be increased to at least Rs44,000 per month.

The governor told the media that he was going to write a letter to the Sindh chief minister to propose that salaries of the employees of the government institutions be increased by 30 to 35 per cent. He said the economic conditions of the government employees and their families along with common people had seriously deteriorated due to high inflation.

He conceded that middle-income families had to face an unbearable situation due to hike in the prices of essential products. Underprivileged families did not have any protection against the skyrocketing inflation, Tessori remarked.

He demanded that price control powers be also given to the administrators of the municipal agencies in Sindh. He said the retailers and traders indulged in excessive profiteering during Ramazan should be dealt with sternly as per the law.

The governor suggested that the government prepare a new rate list of food items in the next 48 hours after visiting the wholesale fruit and vegetable markets. He conceded that fruit production in the province had declined due to the recent floods. However, he added that the situation did not allow the retailers to sell fruits at highly exorbitant rates