Data on what Indians earn does have plenty to reveal of poverty in India
₹424 per day, as per a government notification. For 2024, it is ₹449 per day. This is lower than the price-adjusted minimum wages of ₹483 in 2022-23, as per the suggestion of the labour ministry expert committee.
The updated Rangarajan poverty line for 2022-23 at ₹1,837/ ₹2,603 per month per person for rural/urban areas, respectively, implies a family poverty line of ₹9,185/ ₹13,015, assuming a five-member family. Based on the actual number of days worked in a month from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), a wage worker with a family to support would need minimum earnings of ₹390/552 per-day in rural/urban areas to cross the poverty line. For all of India, it would imply a poverty line of ₹445 per day, slightly higher than the government notified minimum wages.
What is the actual level of wages received by casual wage workers? According to labour bureau data, the average wage in agricultural occupations in January 2023 was ₹362 per day. It was higher in non-farm occupations, at ₹412, still lower than minimum wages. Another data source are wages and earnings reported by the PLFS, for which the 2022-23 report is available.
According to PLFS readings, casual workers in rural areas received wages of ₹383 in the January-March 2023 quarter. This was only ₹310 per day in case of agricultural workers, lower than the estimate reported by the labour bureau and almost two-thirds of the specified minimum wages. On average, a casual wage worker is earning less than both the minimum wages and Rangarajan poverty line in 2022-23.
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