New series that will not affect the DA given to government personnel for now.
The Ministry of Labor and Employment on Thursday revised the base year of the Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (IPC-IW) from 2001 to 2016 to reflect the changing consumption pattern, giving more weight to spending on health, education, recreation and other miscellaneous expenses. , while reducing the weight of food and drink.
The director general of the Labor Office, DPS Negi, said the new series would not have an impact on the shortage allowance (DA) awarded to government employees for now. The linking factor of the new series to the old one was 2.88, something that the employers’ federations had raised in the consultations.
Speaking at the launch of the new series, Labor and Employment Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar said the Office was expected to publish the new CPI series for agricultural workers, which currently has the base year of 1986-87 for August. of the next year.
Every five year plan
Labor and Employment Secretary Apurva Chandra said that going forward, the Bureau would work to review the index every five years. The reduction in the weight of spending on food and beverages indicated an increase in disposable income.
Mr. Gangwar said that the new series, which represents the latest consumption pattern, would benefit workers. The number of centers, markets, and the sample size for the survey of income and expenditures of working-class families were increased.
The Minister also published the first index, with 2016 as the base year. The September index, calculated for 88 centers compared to the previous 78 centers, was 118.
The sample size increased from 41,040 households to 48,384, and the number of markets selected to collect retail price data from 289 to 317.
A statement from the Ministry said: “The number of items held directly in the index basket has increased to 463 items compared to 392 items in the 2001 series … The weight of food and beverages has decreased over time while the weight of the miscellaneous group (health; education and recreation; transportation and communications; care and personal effects; articles and services for the home, etc.) has increased substantially in the 2016 series compared to previous series. The weight of the housing group has reported a growing participation over time ”.
The weight in food and beverages fell from 46.2% to 39%, while spending on housing increased from 15.2% to 17%.
The October index would be released on November 27. In addition to measuring inflation in retail prices, the CPI-IW was used to regulate the DA of government employees and industrial workers, as well as to set and revise minimum wages in scheduled jobs, the statement said.
Before the last revision, the series was revised from 1944 to 1949, from 1949 to 1960; 1960 to 1982 and 1982 to 2001, he added.
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