Maharashtra

of the NCP teaming up with the rival Sena, a buzz that was set off by his meeting with Raut six days back and had been fuelled by the Shiv Sena, which has been bargaining for a better deal with the BJP.

When he was in Delhi this week to brief Congress president Sonia Gandhi, he did make the point that the Ncp-congress had received a mandate to sit in the opposition. He had, however, added “...but I can’t say what will happen in the state”.

Wednesday’s statement did not have any riders attached.

Pawar did say that they will watch how things pan out in the next three days and the NCP-CONgress would take all decisions together. “We were in a pre-poll alliance with Congress and whatever we decide, we will do it together,” he said.

But the fact is, Pawar said, the BJP-SENA combine had been given the mandate by the people and “we are waiting for them to handle the situation properly”.

“The mandate of people for the NCP, Congress has been to act as a strong opposition. We are capable of handling this responsibility,” he said. Turning to the two squabbling allies, he asked them to form the government quickly and “give us the opportunity to act as a responsible opposition”.

Sharad Pawar’s timeline of the BJP-SHIV Sena forming the government in a few days matches the expectation in the BJP camp, which appeared to have softened its stand on giving more ministerial berths to Uddhav Thackeray’s party. But the BJP leaders are still firm on retaining the chief minister’s post for itself for the next five years.

“I welcome Pawar’s decision that the NCP would sit in opposition,” said senior BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar who holds the finance portfolio in the outgoing government. Mungantiwar added: “All types of tigers would be protected by the BJP. We will take care of them,” he said in a veiled reference to the Sena, whose emblem is a tiger.

The Shiv Sena has been quoting a pact reached between the two parties ahead of the national elections that, it says, included a provision for 50-50 sharing of power including the Sena holding the chief minister’s post for the government’s half term. It is this demand that the two allies should get a shot at the chief minister’s chair by rotation which has held up forward movement on government formation in Maharashtra.

Results to the state elections held last month were declared on October 24.

The BJP and Sena fought the elections together and secured 105 seats and 56 seats respectively in the 288-member assembly. The NCP bagged 54 seats and the Congress 44. The majority mark in the legislative assembly is 145. on Wages 2019, a law passed by Parliament this year, is in accordance with historically determined standards,” said Prof Sundar. These include the criteria adopted at the Indian Labour Conference 1957, which was supplemented by the Supreme Court advisory in 1992 in the Raptakos and Brett case, he added.

The top court had emphasised that workers have the right to a decent wage in a dispute between workers of the firm, Raptakos and Brett, and its management.

“I would have preferred a least complex system wherein a single or multiple minimum wage rates are determined at the national and state level to ensure clarity and efficiency in administering minimum wages,” said Prof Sundar. Other experts, who concurred with the 14-28% calculation, also said the draft could have been simpler. “Given the expectations around the wage code and the criteria suggested, the basic wages will increase to at least ~200,” said Prof SN Giri, a labour economist who advised the erstwhile Planning Commission.

Prof Sundar, however, said that the nine-hour working day limit set by the draft “defies all current legal aspects and requirements”. He said nowhere in the world do labour laws have such a work-hour limit. The architecture of wages envisaged in the draft shows that while there will be a statutory national floor wage rate, there will be a minimum wage set by the central government for sectors of the economy for subjects that fall in the Union list, such as civil aviation, ports, banking, insurance and mines, etc. States will have powers to set minimum wages for all areas that fall under their jurisdiction, as defined in the Factories Act 1948 and The Shops and Establishment Act of various states. Minimum wages at the state level will vary according to three geographical classifications: metro, non-metro, and rural areas.

Prior to this, there were no set criteria for calculating minimum wage rates, which is a common matter of dispute between workers and employers.