Wages of workers and employees in the Ayurvedic industry are set to rise after 12 years since the last revision, with the Minimum Wages Commission finalising a draft recommending the minimum monthly wage for workers in the sector to be Tk 11,000.
The board published the proposal in the Official Gazette on June 23 and asked stakeholders to submit in writing any objections or suggestions they may have against the recommendation within 14 days.
The last review of the minimum wage in the Ayurvedic industry was done in 2009, when the gross minimum wage was set at Tk 4,350 per month.
The labour ministry appointed Sheri Farhad, director of Hamdard Laboratories (Waqf) Bangladesh, as the management representative and Chandrajit Barmon, an employee of Sadhna Ushodharoy, as the workers’ representative and set up a committee to review the wages of Ayurvedic industry workers in June 2020.
Later, the owners’ and workers’ representatives withdrew their names from the board citing personal reasons and the ministry reshuffled the board by appointing Hamdard Laboratories (Waqf) Bangladesh vice-president Mohammed Mizanur Rahman as the owners’ representative and Sadhna Ushodharoy Ltd worker Vinod Chandra Bhowmik as the workers’ representative.
Mizanur Rahman, secretary general of Bangladesh Ayurvedic Medicines Manufacturers Association, told New Age on Saturday that they were aware of the Minimum Wages Commission’s recommendations for workers in the industry but pointed out that the government had not included industry associations in the wage revision process.
“I cannot understand why the government has excluded representatives of industry associations from the wage negotiation process and appointed company employees who are undeserving of the position as owners’ representatives on the board,” he said.
Mohangir Jahangir Hossain, additional secretary in the Ministry of Labour, said the pay board was set up in 2020 and no industry association in the Ayurvedic sector had filed a complaint with the ministry regarding management representation on the board.
He said the ministry would look into the matter if the Bangladesh Ayurvedic Medicines Manufacturers Association raised an objection.
According to a gazette notification, the commission in its proposal has incorporated six categories of workers — highly skilled worker, skilled worker 1, skilled worker 2, semi-skilled worker 1, semi-skilled worker 2 and unskilled worker.
The Wage Board has proposed a minimum monthly wage of Tk 19,250 for highly skilled workers, which includes basic salary of Tk 11,500, housing allowance of 50 per cent of basic salary, medical allowance of Tk 1,500 and travel allowance of Tk 500.
The wages of skilled worker 1 was proposed to be Tk 17,000 including basic pay of Tk 10,000 and the wages of skilled worker 2 was proposed to be Tk 14,600 including basic pay of Tk 8,400 with minimum gross pay.
The wages of semi-skilled worker 1 was proposed to be Tk 13,100 total with basic pay of Tk 7,400 and the wages of semi-skilled worker 2 was proposed to be Tk 12,200 total with basic pay of Tk 6,800.
The minimum monthly wage for unskilled workers has been proposed to be Tk 11,000, which includes basic salary of Tk 6,000, housing allowance of 50 per cent of basic salary, medical allowance of Tk 1,500 and transport allowance of Tk 500.
The committee suggested a total monthly allowance of Tk 8,000 for apprentices and employees.
Industry leaders said there are over 100 Ayurvedic medicine manufacturers across the country with around 30,000 workers and employees working in the industry.
