Date:16/02/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/02/16/stories/2008021650340100.htm

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Bahrain rejects India’s offer to fix minimum wage

Dubail: Amidst labour unrest in Bahrain by foreign workers, majority of them Indians, Manama on Friday rejected New Delhi’s attempt to fix the minimum wage for its nationals taking up employment in the Gulf country.

Bahrain is keen to protect the rights of foreign workers, but the recent move by India of fixing a minimum wage of Bahraini Dinar 100 (around Rs. 10,481) for unskilled workers couldn’t be applied in other countries, Bahrain’s Labour Minister Majeed Al Alawi said.

“However, it is entirely the right of the Indian government to determine a minimum wage for its workers and prevent their nationals from leaving India to take up jobs which do not pay the fixed wage,” Mr. Al Alawi added. — PTI