Government Releases New Series Of Wage Rate Index

Labour ministry has released the new series of wage rate index (WRI) with the base year being 2016. Government periodically revises the base year of WRI for key economic indicators in order to provide a clear picture of economic changes and record the wage pattern of workers.

The new series of WRI with base 2016=100 will replace the old series with base 1963-65, a labour ministry statement said.

According to the recommendations of the International Labour Organization and National Statistical Commission, the base year of WRI numbers has been revised from 1963-65 to 2016 by the Labour Bureau to enhance the coverage and to make index more representative.

Official sources said that the new WRI series has expanded the scope and coverage in terms of number of industries, sample size, occupations under selected industries as well as weightage of industries among other indicators.

The new WRI series would be compiled twice a year on point-to-point half-yearly basis, as on January 1 and July 1 of every year, official sources said, adding that a total of 37 industries have been covered in the new WRI basket as against 21 industries in the 1963-65 series.

The selected 37 industries in the new series are 30 from the manufacturing sector, four from the mining sector and three from the plantation sector.