Kolkata, Feb 17 (IANS): The Union Ministry of Labour and Employment is at an advance stage to get through with the codes relating to wages and industrial relation, an official said on Friday.

The ministry has been working to "simplify, rationalise and amalgamate" about 40 existing labour laws into four codes, the official added. 

The labour laws, which are almost a century old, are being codified under four heads -- wages, social security, industrial relations, and health and safety.

"In wage and industrial relation code, we have moved quite far and are in an advanced stage for getting them through," Principal Labour Secretary M. Sathiyavathy said here.

Referring to the upcoming wage code, she said the Centre would prescribe a "national floor level minimum wage". 

"The central government in any case in future will not fix the minimum wages. We intend to delegate the sectors which are with the Centre to the state governments. They will fix all these areas within their jurisdiction," she said.

She, however, added that the Centre will "fix the floor level below which the state governments cannot fix the minimum wage". 

She clarified that the idea is not to have one minimum wage applicable to the entire country.

The ministry is also trying to bring a concept of revision of the minimum wage, she said at a round table discussion organised by Social Security Association of India. 

"We are trying to bring the concept of revision of the minimum wage. Many of the state governments coming under the pressure of groups have not been amending the minimum wage for years. This is putting the welfare of the workers in jeopardy," Sathiyavathy said.

The wage code would prescribe the frequency at which the minimum wage needed to be amended by the states, she added.