CONSTITUTIONALITY OF MINIMUM WAGES ACT

1948
Guided By: Prof. Nuzhat Parween

SUBMITTED BY:
MD. ABID HUSSAIN ANSARI
B.A. LL.B. (HONS.) 6TH SEMESTER
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Acknowledgement
Firstly, I would like to express my profound sense of gratitude towards the almighty
ALLAH for providing me with the authentic circumstances which were mandatory for the
completion of my project.
Secondly, I am highly indebted to Prof. Dr. Nuzhat Parween at Faculty of Law, Jamia Millia
Islamia University, New Delhi for providing me with constant encouragement and guidance
throughout the preparation of this project.
Thirdly, I thank the Law library staff who liaised with us in searching material relating to the
project.
My cardinal thanks are also for my parents, friends and all teachers of law department in our
college who have always been the source of my inspiration and motivation without which I
would have never been able to unabridged my project.
My father, a lawyer with large access to books of value has been of great help to me.
Without the contribution of the above said people I could have never completed this project.

Mohd. Abid Hussain Ansari

B.A.LL.B (Hons) 6th Semester
3rd Year

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction and Evolution of Labour Law..7
2. Implementation of Labour laws..19
3. Introduction to Minimum Wages Act 194820
4. Background.22
5. Historical Backdrop22
6. Object and Scope of the Legislation...23
7. Criteria for notification of scheduled employment.24
8. Methods for fixation or revision of minimum wages Fixation...24
9. Advisory Board...26
10. Variable Dearness Allowance (VDA)26
11. Steps taken to reduce disparities: Five Regional Committees33
12. National Floor Level Minimum Wage...34
13. Minimum Wage..35
14. Minimum Wage and the MGNREGA39
15. Sanctity of the Minimum Wage Act...40
16. Recent Initiatives51
17. Amendment in the Minimum Wages Act, 1948.52
18. Conclusion..52
19. Bibliography...53

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List of Cases
1. Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board v. A. Rajappa and Ors.
2. Unichoyi v. State of Kerala
3. Bijoy Cotton Mills v. State of Ajmer
4. B.Y. Kashatriya v. S.A.T. Bidi Kamgar Union
5. State of Rajasthan v. Hari Ram Nathwani
6. Reptakos Brett and Co. v. Its workmen
7. Sanjit Roy v. State of Rajasthan
8. Edward Mills v. State of Ajmer
9. Workmen Represented by Secretary v. Management of Reptakos Brett
and Co. Ltd. and Anr
10.Burmah-Shell Oil Storage and Distributing Co. of India, Ltd., Bombay v.
Their Workmen
11.Standard Vacuum Oil Company v. Their Employees
12.Linge Gowda Detective and Security Chamber (P) Ltd. v. Authority
13.A. V. Parkash v. Senior Labour Inspector
14.Bandhua Mukti Morcha v. Union of India
15.Patel Ishwerbhai Pramod Bhai v. Taluka Development Officer
16.Chacko v. Varkey
17.Benode Bihari Shah v. State of W.B.
18.Madhya Pradesh Bidi Udyog Sangh, Sagar v. State of Madhya Pradesh
19.Athni Municipality v. Shiettappa Laxman Pattan
20.Shiv Prasad Ghosh v. District Judge
21.President, Cinema Workers Union affiliated to Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh
v. Secretary, Social Welfare and Labour Department
22.Govind Bhawan Karyalaya v. State of U.P.
23.Woolcombers of India v. Workers Union
24.Hydro (Engineers) Put. Ltd. v. The Workmen

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25.Bidi, Bidi Leaves and Tobacco Merchants Association v. State of

Bombay
26.Abraham v. Industrial Tribunal
27.Bhikusa Yamasakshatriya v. Sanagmanes Akola Paluka Bidi Kamgar
Union
28.Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce, Bangalore v. State of Karnataka
29.Krishna Flour Mills v. Commissioner of Labour
30.T.G. Lakshmaiah Setty & Sons, Adoni v. State of Andhra Pradesh
31.Bijay Unchana Paul v. State of Assam
32.Chakradharpur Bidi and Tobacco Merchants Association v. State of Bihar
33.Government of India v. Barium Chemicals Ltd.
34.Ramkrishna Ramnath v. State of Maharashtra
35.Militant Security Bureau Put. Ltd. v. B.R. Hehar
36.Union for Democratic Rights v. Union of India
37.Municipal Council, Hatta v. Bhagat Singh
38.V. V. Surya Rau v. Surendra Ramkrishna Tendulkar
39.Executive Engineer, Rural Works Division, Mayurbhanj v. Addl. District
Magistrate, Mayurbhanj
40.Sri Gandhian Bus Service Chingleput v. Labour Court
41.Awadh Lal Sah v. State of Bihar
42.B. Ramdas v. The Authority under Minimum Wages Act, Guntur Region,
Guntur
43.Delhi Administration v. Presiding Officer
44.A.V. Prakash v. Senior Labour Inspector
45.Bakshsish Singh v. Darshan Engineering Works
46.Premier Tobacco Packers (P) Ltd. v. Assistance Labour Officer
47.Yadav Stores, Nagpur v. Presiding Officer, Labour Court III
48.Harish C. Brahmbhatt v. Oil and Natural Gas Commission
49.Jaswant Rai Beri and Ors. v. State Of Punjab and Anr
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50.Crown Aluminium Works v. Their Workmen

51.West Coast Employers' Federation v. State Of Kerala and Ors
52.The Perumbavoor Merchant's Association v. The Pemmbavoor Municipal
Council
53.Kishan Lal & Sons v. Govt. of. Nct. of Delhi & Ors
54.Sanjit Roy v. State of Rajasthan
55.The Management v. The Plantation Officer
56.Elisamma v. The Corporation of Madras
57.Loknath Nathu Lal v. State of Madhya Pradesh
58.Nathu Ram Shukla v. State ofMadhya Pradesh

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Introduction & Evolution of Labour Law

The history of labour legislation in India is naturally interwoven with the history of British
colonialism. Considerations of British political economy were naturally paramount in shaping
some of these early laws. In the beginning it was difficult to get enough regular Indian
workers to run British establishments and hence laws for indenturing workers became
necessary. This was obviously labour legislation in order to protect the interests of British
employers. Then the Factories Act. It is well known that Indian textile goods offered stiff
competition to British textiles in the export market and hence in order to make India labour
costlier the Factories Act was first introduced in 1883 because of the pressure brought on the
British parliament by the textile magnates of Manchester and Lancashire. Thus we received
the first stipulation of eight hours of work, the abolition of child labour, and the restriction of
women in night employment, and the introduction of overtime wages for work beyond eight
hours. While the impact of this measure was clearly welfarist the real motivation was
undoubtedly protectionist! To date, India has ratified 39 International Labour Organisation
(ILO) conventions of which 37 are in force. Of the ILOs eight fundamental conventions,
India has ratified four Forced Labour 1930, Abolition of Forced Labour 1957, Equal
Remuneration 1951, and Discrimination (employment and occupation) 1958.
Labour law also known as employment law is the body of laws, administrative rulings, and
precedents which address the legal rights of, and restrictions on, working people and their
organizations. As such, it mediates many aspects of the relationship between trade unions,
employers and employees. In other words, Labour law defines the rights and obligations as
workers, union members and employers in the workplace. Generally, labour law covers:

Industrial relations certification of unions, labour-management relations, collective

bargaining and unfair labour practices;

Workplace health and safety;

Employment standards, including general holidays, annual leave, working hours,

unfair dismissals, minimum wage, layoff procedures and severance pay.

There are two broad categories of labour law. First, collective labour law relates to the
tripartite relationship between employee, employer and union. Second, individual labour law
concerns employees' rights at work and through the contract for work.

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The labour movement has been instrumental in the enacting of laws protecting labour rights
in the 19th and 20th centuries. Labour rights have been integral to the social and economic
development since the industrial revolution.
Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 came into effect immediately after independence and the object
of the Act was to provide for effective machinery for investigation and settlement of
industrial disputes. Section 2(j) of the Act of 1947 provides for definition of Industry. The
definition of Industry as provided in Section 2(j) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 reads as
under, Industry means any business, trade, undertaking, manufacture or calling of
employers and includes any calling, service, employment, handicraft, or industrial occupation
or avocation of workmen;
No write up on the subject, in the backdrop of labour laws in India, is possible without
referring to the land mark judgment of the Honble Supreme Court, Bangalore Water Supply
and Sewerage Board v. A. Rajappa and Ors., decided on 21.2.1978 and 7.4.1978. In this
landmark judgment 7 judge bench of the Honble Supreme Court considered pros and cons of
the definition of Industry, referred earlier pronouncements and decided the scope of
definition of Industry under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.
I would like to propose the evolution of labour law in India, and the regulatory policy
associated with it, across five main periods.1
Early 1920s
In the very early stages of British colonial control, there was little attention paid to the legal
organisation of work by the authorities. Labour organisation and the production process
remained, apart from a few exceptions, a matter of family, land and cultural regulation. 2The

A different scenario in terms of periodization in the evolution of Indian labour policy is presented by Shyam
Sundar: K. R. S. Sundar, State in Industrial Relations System in India: From Corporatist to Neo-Liberal?
(2005) 48 Indian Journal of Labour Economics 917. Mishra, above n.7, at pp. 13-18; and E. Hill, The Indian
Industrial Relations System: Struggling to Address the Dynamics of a Globalizing Economy (2009) 51 Journal
of Industrial Relations 395.
2
These continue to be highly significant factors in the organisation and regulation of labour. J. G. Scoville, M.
Toha and S. Triparthi, Ethnicity, Caste, Religion and Occupational Structure in Traditional Activities: A
Preliminary View from North India in J. G. Scoville (ed.), Status Influences in Third World Labor Markets,
Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, 1991. Also S. Thorat and K. S. Newman (eds.), Blocked by Caste: Economic
Discrimination in Modern India, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2010; B. Harriss-White and N. Gooptu,
Mapping Indias World of Unorganized Labour (2001) 37 Socialist Register 89; M. B. Das and P.V. Dutta,
Does Caste Matter for Wages in the Indian Labour Market? Social Development Unit, World Bank, 2007.

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earliest British regulations related to workers in the government service, including the
military, and forced labour for the performance of public works.3
However, it is very clear from the 1880s onwards there was a succession of legislative
interventions by the colonial government, mainly in relation to the employment of women
and children, and concerning hours of work, in factories and mines. 4 Much of this legislation
was the result of various government-initiated enquiries.5 However, the legislation made only
very slight inroads into working practices in these industries, and was of limited impact
insofar as it applied only selectively.6 Regulation in the plantation sector was focussed
principally upon matters relating to labour supply and the problems of the indentured labour
system.7
Post - World War One and the 1920s
As mentioned earlier, there is some disagreement about the importance of this period. Several
factors had combined to alter the industrial and political landscape, including the emergence
of a strong nationalist movement, the rapid development of trade unions (most importantly
the formation of the All India Trade Union Congress in 1920), and the emergence of
Communist influence in the labour movement following the successful Bolshevik revolution
in Russia in 1917. At the same time the newly created ILO began to have an influence on
labour policy in India. Much of the legislation of this period was a continuation of the
factory-style regulation of the pre-war period, dealing with hours of work, rest periods,
female and child protections, health and safety and so on. Typical protective legislation of the
period includes the Factories Act 1922, the Mines Act 1922, and the Workmens
Compensation Act 1923, much of it responding to the ratification of various relevant ILO
conventions by the colonial Indian government.8

M. R. Anderson, Work Construed: Ideological Origins of Labour Law in British India to 1918 in P. Robb
(ed.), Dalit Movements and the Meaning of Labour in India, Oxford University Press, Delhi, 1993. See also P.
Robb, Peasants, Political Economy, and Law, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2007, ch. 8.
4
These include the Factories Acts of 1881, 1891 and 1911: DeSousa, above n. 6, at pp. 68-74. Legislation in the
mining industry commenced with the Indian Mines Act 1901.
5
These included the Labour Commission set up by the Governor of Bombay in 1875, the Bombay Factory
Commission of 1884, the Government of India Factory Commission of 1890, the Textile Factory Committee
1906 and the Factory Labour Commission of 1907. R. K. Das, Labour Legislation in India (1930) 22
International Labour Review 599.
6
The Factories Act of 1881, for example, only applied to premises using electrical power with 100 or more
employees. The Factories Act of 1891 applied to premises with 50 or more employees.
7
Early legislation addressing problems in the plantation sector includes the Assam Labour and Emigration Act
of 1901, and the Assam Labour and Immigration (Amendment) Act of 1915.
8
The Workmens Compensation Act was renamed the Employees Compensation Act in 2010.

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However, even if this body of legislation is correctly characterised as unimportant two

further enactments in this period point to what has been described as the emergence of a more
modern approach to the regulation of industrial relations: the Trade Unions Act 1926 and the
Trade Disputes Act 1929.27 The regulatory framework set down in these two provisions
continues formally to underpin the collective labour law system of present day India.
The Trade Unions Act 1926 provided for the registration of trade unions (though registration
was not made compulsory), gave unions a legal status, and extended some protections against
civil and criminal liability in the course of industrial disputes. The Act was limited in certain
respects (for example unregistered unions were excluded from the Acts protections), and the
legislation provided no support for a collective bargaining system as such, insofar as there
was no obligation upon employers to bargain with unions (even registered unions) in the
course of an industrial dispute, nor, in the case of such bargaining, was there any legal
obligation to bargain in good faith. The Trade Disputes Act 1929 placed severe limitations
upon the right to strike, and provided for the compulsory reference of industrial disputes to a
conciliation board or a court of enquiry. The outcomes of the reference, however, were not
binding upon the parties.
Both pieces of legislation were strongly criticised by sections of the trade union movement,
including the All India Trade Union Congress.
The 1930s
In the context of world economic depression and the associated rise in unemployment, there
was also in this period continued agitation for Indian independence in which the All India
Trade Union Congress was playing a major role.9 Mass dismissals were accompanied by a
renewed wave of strikes, especially as the economic depression took hold through 1928 and
1929. Against this background, the British government established the Royal Commission on
Labour in India on the 4th July 1929. The Commission was effectively boycotted by the
Indian labour movement, the All India Trade Union Congress pointing to the British
Imperialist governments open and brutal attack upon the trade union movement by means
of repressive legislation... and its lack of bona fides in establishing the Commission.

The British colonial government favoured the less nationalistic Indian Federation of Labour: see S. K. Sen,
Working Class Movements in India, 1885-1975, OUP, New Delhi, 1994.

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The Commission handed down its Report10 in 1931, still a period of continued job cuts, wage
reductions, and ongoing industrial unrest and strike action. But during the 1930s, two major
factors began to put some further shape on Indian labour law. First, many of the outcomes of
the Report of the Royal Commission made their way into a string of new labour legislation
between 1933 and 1939. Menon estimates that of 24 pieces of labour legislation introduced
by central and provincial governments between 1932 and 1937, 19 arose from the Royal
Commissions recommendations. Virtually all of this new law was in the nature of protective
factory and mines regulation to do with wages, hours of work, and compensation of one sort
or another, similar to earlier periods. One exception was the Payment of Wages Act 1936,
which empowered the employer to deduct wages of employees absent from work in concert,
and without reasonable cause. A further example was the Trade Disputes (Amendment) Act
1938, which authorised provincial governments to appoint conciliation officers to assist in the
settlement of disputes.
Secondly, and potentially more important, were the developments which followed from the
Government of India Act 1935. The heightened profile given to provincial autonomy11 made
possible under these new constitutional arrangements gave rise to popular expectation that
more labour- or union-friendly policies would emerge at the provincial government level,
and this in turn gave rise to further concentrated periods of extensive strike action.
Even prior to the 1935 Act, several provincial governments had begun to experiment with
labour law, much of it an important contribution to the development of better working
conditions in workplaces. Not all of this, however, was particularly directed to creating a
more favourable environment for combined labour activity. One important instance was the
introduction of the Trade Disputes (Conciliation) Act 1934 by the provincial government of

10

Report of the Royal Commission on Labour in India, HMSO, London, Cmnd. 3883, 1931
The Royal Commission on Labour had recommended that legislative authority should remain with the central
Government, though the states could also be given jurisdiction provided that no legislation was undertaken by
the states without the previous concurrence of the central government and that such legislation did not impair or
infringe the central Governments legislation: Menon. As a matter of constitutional law, legislative power over
labour and employment relations had been largely shared concurrently by both Central and State governments
since 1919, and hence the Royal Commission was merely recommending the continuance of existing
arrangements: Menon. This legal division of power was also continued in the Constitution of India which came
into effect in 1950, following the securing of Indian independence from Britain in 1947. Under such legal
arrangements Central and State governments have continued to legislate for labour relations. However, there has
been ongoing debate over the years concerning the problems of co-ordination and uniformity of labour laws due
to the overlap of powers: see Sir A. C. Chatterjee, Federalism and Labour Legislation in India (1944) 49
International Labour Review 415; and, Das, emphasising lack of uniformity and other problems, and G. B. Pai,
Labour Law in India, Butterworth, New Delhi, 2001, emphasising the capacity in these shared arrangements for
flexibility in labour market regulation.
11

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Bombay.12 Whilst novel insofar as it was designed to effect changes to collective labour
relations (by providing for the appointment of a Labour Officer to represent the interests and
grievances of workers in the cotton mills), the 1934 Act seems to have been aimed mainly at
heading off communist influence among the labour movement following many years of
decline in the Bombay-based textile industries and a major strike earlier in that year.13
However, more adventurous legislation followed after the election of more popular provincial
governments in the wake of the Government of India Act 1935. The introduction of the
Industrial Disputes Act 1938 by the Bombay provincial government, for example, among
other things made some move in towards the imposition of a legal obligation on the part of
employers to recognise trade unions. Again it is necessary to note, however, that these were
largely limited measures which were not greeted with general approval by the Indian trade
union movement. The All India Trade Union Congress described the 1938 Bombay Bill as
uncalled for, reactionary, prejudicial and harmful to the interest of the workers and
calculated to create slave unions. In general it appears that the expectations created in the
popular election of provincial governments remained largely unfulfilled.
World War Two and The Pre--Independence Period
Regulation in the World War Two period appears against the background of considerable
industrial unrest and strike action against the conditions and effects of the war itself. These
circumstances brought into being several pieces of legislation (at Central and State level)
designed to secure labour co-operation in support of the war effort. This legislation included
passage in 1941 of s. 49A of the Bombay Industrial Disputes Act, granting power to the
Bombay government to refer industrial disputes to compulsory arbitration by an Industrial
Court, and banning all strikes and lockouts prior to arbitration. Much of this restrictive
legislation in the Bombay province was continued after the war ended in the form of the
Bombay Industrial Relations Act 1946. Other relevant legislation included the Central
governments Essential Services Act 1941, and the Defence of India Rules (Rule 81-A,
introduced in 1942, and Rule 56-A, introduced in 1943). Each of these sets of provisions laid
down severe restrictions against strikes, and other forms of industrial action, in the course of
industrial disputes, including industrial action on the part of employers in some cases.
12

Similar style legislation on industrial disputes, strikes and so on was also introduced in Indore, Cochin and
other Indian States during the 1930s: Das, above n. 14, at p. 816-817.
13
D. Kooiman, Labour Legislation and Working Class Movement: Case of Bombay Labour Office, 1934-37
(1981) 16 Economic and Political Weekly 1807; M. D. Morris, Labor Discipline, Trade Unions, and the State in
India (1955) 63 Journal of Political Economy 293.

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General and political strikes were also targeted.14 The provisions of Rule 81-A in particular
were continued after the war as part of the Industrial Disputes Act 1947, and, as is noted in
subsequent sections of this project work, have remained a core part of the legislation
governing industrial disputes and bargaining since that time.
To greater or lesser extent, the Trade Disputes Act 1929, its successor the Trade Disputes Act
1947, and earlier provisions such as the Bombay Act of 1934, were essentially designed to
enable government agencies to investigate industrial disputes over relevant terms and
conditions of employment, and to settle them in appropriate cases. But generally the terms of
this legislation were historically directed more towards the control of labour than towards the
settlement issue. Certainly there was little or nothing in these various provisions which
facilitated the development of collective bargaining in a British- or American-style model.
While strikes and lockouts were strictly controlled, the state, at both Central and State levels,
exercised strong controls over the circumstances in which disputes might be referred to
adjudication, the industries to which the legislation applied, and which unions might be
permitted to notify such disputes.
The overall impact of this was, then, one of limitation and exclusion. The Industrial Disputes
Act 1947, for example, applied (and applies) generally to workmen in industries.
Workmen excluded various categories of workers engaged in particular occupations, or in
managerial and administrative capacities, and so on.15 Whereas the term industry has now
been interpreted quite broadly, many types of employment, including workers in government
departments and services, and domestic and agricultural workers are still excluded. Similarly
the Trade Unions Act 1926 also contained important limitations on its coverage. It has been
said of the system set up under the Industrial Disputes Act 1947 that the freedom of
industrial action on the part of workers [is] more illusory than real and that the provisions of
the law [operate] to restrict the options available to the side represented by the workers.
What collective bargaining there was, developed without state support and, not surprisingly,
evolved almost entirely in the formal (or organised) sectors of the economy. 16 These are
14

In India, many forms of industrial action are unlawful, and much industrial action is correspondingly unlawful
in practice: C.K. Johri, India in R. Blanpain (ed.) International Encyclopaedia for Labour Law and Industrial
Relations, Kluwer Law International, Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands, Supplement 262, December 2002, at
paras. 626-652.
15
B. R. Sharma, Managerial Employees and Labour Legislation (1992) 28 Indian Journal of Industrial
Relations 1.
16
T. Roy, Rethinking Economic Change in India, Routledge, London, 2005, at p. 179. Although India has
never ratified the key ILO Conventions pertaining to Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining, it has
been pointed out that as a member of the organisation it has a general responsibility to support these rights from

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largely confined to the public and large corporate sectors and constitute about 3 per cent or
less of the workforce in each case. Most scholars have noted that the path taken in the
evolution of labour law in India in the post-1945 period basically followed the pattern
established earlier in the restrictive policies of the colonial government and in particular the
legislation of the war years. Only in a few States were there exceptions made to the overall
discretionary power of government to refer or not to refer disputes for adjudication, and in
only a few States did laws emerge which created some sort of obligation upon employers to
recognise trade unions. One such provision was the Bombay Industrial Relations Act 1946
which, building upon the earlier (and much criticised) attempts in the Bombay Industrial
Disputes Act 1938, distinguished several types of unions, and extended to some of those
unions the right to represent workers in particular industries and areas.17
At the same time, however, there was a continued strengthening of the protective regulation
applying to individual workers rights during this period. One example is the Industrial
Employment (Standing Orders) Act 1946 which required employers to provide their
employees with clear terms and conditions of employment according to the items set down in
a Schedule to the Act and certified by the relevant authority. Other major statutes of this
period included the Factories Act 1948 and the Minimum Wage Act 1948. Much of this body
of regulation, as we have noted also in the case of the Industrial Disputes Act 1947, was (and
remains) limited in its application because it was applied only selectively to certain kinds of
business establishments, and, in respect of some provisions, only to businesses of a certain
size as determined by the number of employees. This is a common theme in Indian labour
law, with obvious implications for the legitimacy of the labour law system as a whole.18
Post-Independence, 1948 Onwards
In the immediate post-war period it was agreed that the Indian Central government would be
primarily responsible for labour legislation, and the promotion of labours interests, reflecting
a five-year plan of development dealing with all phases of the workers life, of housing,

an ethical standpoint: see R. Gopalakrishnan and L. Tortell, Access to Justice, Trade Union Rights and the
Indian Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (2006) 22 International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and
Industrial Relations 529, at pp. 542-543.
17
K. R. Shyam Sundar, Impact of Labour Regulations on Industrial Development and Employment: A Study of
Maharashtra, Institute for Studies in Industrial Development, New Delhi, 2008, pp. 66-68; Johri, at paras. 551554. There are similar laws in other Indian States: for example, the Indian Trade Unions (Madhya Pradesh
Amendment) Act 1960.
18
B. Debroy, Issues in Labour Law Reform in B. Debroy and P. D. Kaushik (eds.), Reforming the Labour
Market, Academic Foundation, New Delhi, 2005, at pp. 42-55.

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welfare, work, better working conditions, and fair wages. Many of these social values were
articulated in the Constitution of India 1950, particularly its commitment to economic,
political and social justice in the Preamble, and its general egalitarian conception of national
development.19
Consistent with this socio/political outlook, we have noted the introduction of a raft of
protective legislation in the form of the Factories Act 1948, and the Minimum Wages Act
1948. Important also to note are the Dock Workers (Regulation of Employment) Act 1948,
which among other things sought to decasualize dock labour, the Employees State
Insurance Act 1948, providing for an insurance system for employees in cases of sickness,
maternity, injury and death, the Plantations Labour Act 1951, which sought to regulate
conditions of work and provide welfare measures for Indias high employment industries in
tea and rubber plantations, and the Employees' Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions
Act 1952, one of the most important pieces of legislation in India's social security system. It
follows from what we have said earlier, however, that this period did not mark out a
completely new approach to the issue of labour regulation in India. When it came to the
regulation of collective labour relations in particular, the restrictive policies of government
control which had characterised the colonial and immediate post-war period continued to
hold sway. As various authorities have noted, the major influence on the formation of postindependence labour and economic policy was the priority given to government-directed
nation building - in which the need for trade union co-operation in securing industrial peace
and labour support for industrialisation and economic development (economic nationalism)
was paramount.20 Consequently the development of labour law in India continued to follow
the dual pattern already identified. In support of the state planned and organised economy, 21
19

The Indian Constitution 1950 contains specific goals relating to labour, including the right to work, just and
humane conditions of work, a living wage and a decent standard of life in addition to the right to form trade
Unions: Constitution of India 1949 ss. 14, 15, 19, 39, 41, 43 and 43A in particular. For further information: R.
Gopalakrishnan, Enforcing Labour Rights Through Human Rights Norms: The Approach of the Supreme
Court of India in C. Fenwick and T. Novitz (eds.), Human Rights at Work: Perspectives on Law and
Regulation, Hart Publishing, Oxford and Portland, Oregon, 2010
20
C. P. Thakur, Labour Policy and Legal Framework in India: A Review, Institute for Studies in Industrial
Development, New Delhi, 2008, at p.8; S. Ghose, Alternate Dispute Settlement Mechanisms in India - A Study
of Industrial Adjudication in A. Sivananthiran and C. S. Venkata Ratnam (eds.), Prevention and Settlement of
Disputes in India, ILO, New Delhi, 2003, at p. 83; Such an outlook has retained currency even in more recent
times: C.S. Venkata Ratnam (ed.), Industrial Relations in Indian States, Indian Industrial Relations
Association/Global Business Press, New Delhi, 1996.
21
In the early period of political independence the Indian government established strong controls over the
nations economy in an avowedly socialistic stance. This included the establishment of state monopolies or
controls over industries considered vital to the development of the economy. This policy was formulated as part
of the 1948 Industrial Policy Resolution and articulated in various Five Year plans introduced sequentially from
the late 1940s onwards. In 1956 the industries brought under the control of the Indian government were

15 | P a g e

the Indian government continued its strong interventionist role in industrial relations. The
laws regulating trade unions and industrial disputes remained largely fixed on the model set
by the legislation introduced over the period from 1926 to 1947, and this in turn had certain
implications for the Indian industrial relations system. While trade union organisation was
legally sanctioned, collective bargaining (at least nominally) recognised, and strikes and
lockouts to a degree legalised and regulated, the level of state intervention in the actual
industrial relations process, and the emphasis given to the maintenance of industrial peace
effectively circumscribed the possibility that collective bargaining might develop as the
primary form of industrial relations in India: in effect collective bargaining was held to be
incompatible with economic planning. Overall the law on bargaining has changed little since
these formative days, although in an important amendment to the Trade Union Act in 2001 it
was provided that trade unions were required to have at least 100 members or to represent at
least 10% of the workforce in order to secure registration under the Act, thereby making the
formation and legalisation of unions far more onerous than had previously been the case. 22 As
noted earlier, some States did move to provide unions with a right to recognition, and some
subsequent legislation made the refusal to bargain on the part of an employer an unfair
labour practice, more or less making the duty to bargain legally obligatory. Probably the best
example of this legislation is the Maharashtra Recognition of Unions and Prevention of
Unfair Labour Practices Act 1971, which supplemented the Industrial Relations Act 1946 of
Bombay, although that legislation was limited in its application to nine industries only. In
1982 the Indian Central government amended the Industrial Disputes Act of 1947 introducing
the concept of the unfair labour practice into national labour law.23 This legislation
outlawed various practices by employers unions and workers designed to disrupt the
legitimate processes of dispute settlement under the Act. The refusal by an employer to
bargain collectively in good faith with the recognized trade union was listed as an unfair
practice. Whilst on its face this provision might seem to have amounted to a major

expanded considerably, and included, among others, iron and steel, transport, arms and defence equipment,
mining, electrical power, and telecommunications. The governments policy also included various supports for
the development of private industry including tariff protection. A. S. Mathur, Labour Policy and Industrial
Relations in India, Ram Prasad and Sons, Agra, 1968, at ch. 2; R. Mohan, Industrial Policy and Controls in B.
Jalan (ed.), The Indian Economy: Problems and Prospects, Penguin, New Delhi, 2004.
22
Trade Unions (Amendment) Act 2001 (Act 31 of 2001), s. 5 (which inserted s. 9A into the Trade Unions Act,
1926).
23
Industrial Disputes (Amendment) Act 1982: The proscribed unfair labour practices are listed in the Fifth
Schedule to the Industrial Disputes Act 1947. Originally similar provisions had been proposed as part of
amendments to the Trade Unions Act in 1947. However, these proposals came to naught in effect: Advani,
above n. 62 at pp. 24-25; C. Myers, Labor Problems in the Industrialization of India, Harvard University Press,
Cambridge Massachusetts, 1958, at ch. 8.

16 | P a g e

breakthrough in collective bargaining law in India, it does not appear to be regarded as

particularly important by Indian labour law scholars, perhaps principally because it has had
little impact in practice. What collective bargaining there is in India and it does exist at all
levels and across many industries, has evolved in a de facto sense, and, as noted earlier, has
been largely limited to the public, and corporate, sectors of the economy. In the mid-1990s
the proportion of Indian workers covered by collective bargaining agreements was estimated
to be lower than five per cent. On the other hand, Indian labour law continued to develop in a
second dimension; that is, in respect of the relations between the employer and the individual
worker. Here we can identify two main categories of intervention. The first concerns the
continued regulation for protective labour standards which took place at both Central and
State levels. We have already noted the continuation of this pattern in the post-World War
Two period, and, as Sundar has pointed out, the ongoing regulation for minimum wages,
equal pay, social security and insurance, maternity benefits, health and safety, leave and
holidays, housing and so on, occupied much of the regulatory space which was taken up in
the contents of collective agreements in industrialised Western countries. The second area of
development concerns employment security. Originally the termination of, or dismissal from,
employment was not an appropriate subject of an individual industrial dispute pursuant to
the Industrial Disputes Act 1947, and there was thus little limitation on the employers right
to fire an employee as it saw fit, other than a requirement that appropriate notice be given.
Nor did the legislation place limitations upon the power of the employer to retrench or lay off
redundant workers.
However, pursuant to amendments to the Industrial Disputes Act in 1953, 1976 and 1982 the
Central government began gradually to introduce important new regulations pertaining to
retrenchments, lay-offs, and plant and industry closures. These regulations, including the allimportant Chapters VA and VB of the Act required, inter alia, permission by the appropriate
authorities for mass redundancies and firm closures, minimum notice periods and further
relief in the form of compensation. As far as individual dismissals are concerned, a 1965
amendment to the Industrial Disputes Act created a right in an individual employee to notify
an industrial dispute over his or her discharge, dismissal, retrenchment or other form of
termination, whether or not that person was represented by a trade union. A subsequent
amendment, in 1971, empowered the Industrial Tribunals and the Labour Court to investigate
the dismissal of employees, and make appropriate orders, including reinstatement and
compensation, where the dismissal was found to be unfair. As a consequence of these legal
17 | P a g e

changes, the Labour Court and other tribunals developed a general broad discretion to review
the dismissal of workers and to award relief according to notions of substantive and
procedural injustice. In 1976, amendments to the Act substantially increased (from one month
to three months) the amount of notice required to be given to certain categories of employees
who had been in continuous service for at least one year, and prohibited the dismissal of
workers by way retrenchment, lay-off, or industry closure in factories, mines and plantations
employing 300 or more persons (later reduced to 100 or more in 1982) without permission of
the appropriate government.
Other legislation introduced in the 1970s and into the 1980s consolidated this evolving
protective framework of laws for employees engaged in the regulated (formal) sectors of the
economy. Aside from further strengthening the law on dismissal, major legislation was
introduced by the Central government in 1970 which strictly limited and regulated the use of
contract and agency labour. Further, the Industrial Disputes (Amendment) Act of 1982, in
addition to declaring certain collective behaviours by both employers and unions to be unfair
labour practices declared certain hiring practices, such as the continuing employment of
workers on casual or temporary contracts with the object of depriving them of the status and
privileges of permanent workmen, also to be unfair.24 Overall, then, the post-Independence
period was, at least at the level of the individual worker in the regulated sector, clearly a
period of important consolidation in employment protection. Not only the Central
government, but also several of the State governments, played an important role in this
development. In his study of the impact of Indian labour regulation on unemployment, Sarkar
notes that in the period from 1970 to 2006 there were changes in only nine of 40 variables
used in one quantitative study of Indian labour law. Of those 9 changed variables, 8 were
numerically assessed to have been of advantage to labour and thus of disadvantage to
management. Of those 8, 7 pertained to the individual employment rights (employment status
and security) of workers. What this says about the overall protective strength of Indian labour
law is problematical, and we address this issue in the following section of the paper. But what
it does confirm is that in the long sweep of post-war evolution in Indian labour law, Indian
governments were concerned principally with the construction and maintenance of a floor of
rights for certain classes of labour, and at the same time restricting the industrial, if not the
political, development of collective labour influence.

24

The Industrial Relations Act 1947, Fifth Schedule

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Implementation of Labour laws

The Ministry of Labour has the responsibility to protect and safeguard the interests of
workers in general and those constituting the deprived and the marginal classes of society in
particular with regard to the creation of a healthy work environment for higher production
and productivity. The Ministry seeks to achieve this objective through enacting and
implementing labour laws regulating the terms and conditions of service and employment of
workers. In 1966, the Ministry appointed the First National Labour Commission (NLC) to
review the changes in the conditions of labour since independence and also to review and
assess the working of the existing legal provisions. The NLC submitted its report in 1969.
The important recommendations of NLC have been implemented through amendments of
various labour laws. In the areas of wage policy, minimum wages, employment service,
vocational training, and workers education, the recommendations made by the NLC have
been largely taken into account in modifying policies, processes, and programmes of the
government. In order to ensure consistency between labour laws and changes in economic
policy, and to provide greater welfare for the working class, the Second NLC was constituted
in 1999.All labour laws provide for an inspectorate to supervise implementation and also
have penalties ranging from imprisonment to fines. Cases of non-implementation need to be
specifically identified and complaints filed before magistrates after obtaining permission to
file the complaint from one authority or the other. Very few cases are filed, very rarely is any
violator found guilty, and almost never will an employer be sent to prison. Consequently
these powers are used by corrupt officials only for collecting money from employers.
This does not however mean that no labour laws are implemented. On the contrary
experience has proved that the implementation of such laws is directly proportional to the
extent of unionisation. This generalisation is particularly true of the informal sector.

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Introduction to Minimum Wages Act 1948

The Minimum Wages Act was enacted primarily to safeguard the interests of the workers
engaged in the unorganized sector. The Act provides for fixation and revision of minimum
wages of the workers engaged in the scheduled employments. Under the Act, both central and
State Governments are responsible, in respect of scheduled employments within their
jurisdictions to fix and revise the minimum wages and enforce payment of minimum wages.
In case of Central sphere, any Scheduled employment carried on by or under the authority of
the Central Government or a railway administration, or in relation to a mine, oil-field or
major port, or any corporation established by a Central Act, the Central Government is the
appropriate Government while in relation to any other Scheduled employment, the State
Government is the appropriate Government. The Act is applicable only for those
employments, which are notified and included in the schedule of the Act by the appropriate
Governments.
According to the Act, the appropriate Governments review/revise the minimum wages in the
scheduled employments under their respective jurisdictions at an interval not exceeding five
years. However, there is large scale variation of minimum wages both within the country and
internationally owing to differences in prices of essential commodities, paying capacity,
productivity, local conditions, items of the commodity basket, differences in exchange rates
etc. The objective of this study lesson is to thoroughly acclimatize the students with the law
relating to minimum wages.
The Minimum Wages Act, 1948, is an Act to provide for fixing minimum rates of wages in
certain employments. The employments are those which are included in the schedule and
are referred to as Scheduled Employments.
The concept of minimum wages first evolved with reference to remuneration of workers in
those industries where the level of wages was substantially low as compared to the wages for
similar types of labours in other industries. As far back as 1928, International Labour
Conference of International Labour Organisation, at Geneva adopted a draft convention on
Minimum Wage requiring the member countries to create and maintain a machinery whereby
minimum rates of wages can be fixed for workers employed in industries in which no
arrangements exits for the effective regulation of wages and where wages are exceptionally
low. Also, at the Preparatory Asian Regional Labour Conference of International Labour
20 | P a g e

Organisation held at New Delhi in 1947 and then at the third session of the Asian Regional
Labour Conference, it was approved and occupation in Asian Countries, where they are still
low. Thus, the need of legislation for fixation of minimum wages in India received an
impetus after World War II, on account of the necessity of protecting the interest of
demonbilised personnel seeking employment in the industries. To provide for machinery for
fixing and revision of minimum wages a draft bill was prepared and discussed at the 7th
Session of the Indian Labour Conference in November, 1945. Thereupon the Minimum
Wages bill was introduced in the Central Legislative Assembly.25
The Act was enacted so as to provide 'social justice' and 'living wages' as pointed out in
Article 43 of the Constitution (Directive Principles of State Policy). Living Wages and fair
wages are possible after getting awareness and collective bargaining by trade unionism.
Preamble says: To provide for fixing minimum rates of wages in certain employments.
Minimum Wages Act, 1948 is Act XI of 1948. It has 31 Sections and 1 Schedule. The
Sections are not arranged in Chapters. The Minimum Wages (Central) Rules, 1950 and
Minimum Wages (Central Advisory Board) Rules, 1949 are enacted by following the Act.
Individual states brought their own rules, such as the Andhra Pradesh Minimum Wages
Rules, 1960.
The minimum wages act up hails the ARTICLE 43 of the Indian constitution, which states
that, Living wage, etc, for workers.
The State shall endeavor to secure, by suitable legislation or economic organisation or in any
other way, to all workers, agricultural, industrial or otherwise, work, a living wage,
conditions of work ensuring a decent standard of life and full enjoyment of leisure and social
and cultural opportunities and, in particular, the State shall endeavor to promote cottage
industries on an individual or cooperative basis in rural areas. The spirit of the minimum
wages act of India is relied in the soul on of the article 43 of Indian constitution, which
SADLY is enshrined in part IV of the constitution and hence is non-enforceable by law.
Another constitutional provision that the minimum wages act is said to defy is the ARTICLE
19(1g) which says that to practice any profession, or to carry on any occupation, trade or
businesses.

25

The Minimum Wages Act, 1948

21 | P a g e

It is questioned by certain jurists that the provisions of the minimum wages act that ask for
providing a fixed minimum wage by the employers to the labours is a BAR to their
fundamental right guaranteed under 19(1g). But this question has been raised again and again
in the honorable courts which have dissented from this opinion and upheld the validity of
minimum wages act.

Background:
A tripartite Committee Viz., "The Committee on Fair Wage" was set up in 1948 to provide
guidelines for wage structures in the country. The report of this Committee was a major
landmark in the history of formulation of wage policy in India. Its recommendations set out
the key concepts of the 'living wage', "minimum wages" and "fair wage" besides setting out
guidelines for wage fixation.
Article 39 states that the State shall, in particular, direct its policy towards securing
a. that the citizen, men and women equally shall have the right to an adequate livelihood
and
b. That there is equal pay for equal work for both men and women.
Article 43 states that the State shall endeavour, by suitable legislation or economic
organization or in any other way, to give all workers, agricultural, industrial or otherwise,
work, a living wage, conditions of work ensuring a decent standard of life and full enjoyment
of leisure, and social and cultural opportunities.

Historical Backdrop:

The initiative started with the resolution placed by one Shri. K. G. R. Choudhary in
1920 for setting up Boards for determination of minimum wages in each industry.

The International Labour Conference adopted in 1928 Convention No. 26 and

Recommendation No. 30 relating to wage fixing machinery in trades or parts of
trades.

On the recommendation of the Standing Labour Committee and Indian Labour

Conference, a Labour Investigation Committee was appointed in 1943 to investigate
into the question of wages and other matters like housing, social conditions and
employment.

A draft bill was considered by the Indian Labour Conference in 1945.

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The 8th meeting of the Standing Labour Committee recommended in 1946 to enact a
separate legislation for the unorganized sector including working hours, minimum
wages and paid holidays.

A Minimum Wages Bill was introduced in the Central Legislative Assembly on

11.4.46 to provide for fixation of minimum wages in certain employments. It was
passed in 1946 and came into force with effect from 15.3.1948.

Under the Act, Central and State Governments are appropriate Governments to
i.

notify scheduled employment

ii.

fix/revise minimum wages

The Act contains list of all these employments for which minimum wages are to be fixed by
the appropriate Governments. There are two parts of the Schedule. Part I has non-agricultural
employments whereas Part-II relates to employment in agriculture.

OBJECT AND SCOPE OF THE LEGISLATION

The Minimum Wages Act was passed in 1948 and it came into force on 15th March, 1948.
The National Commission on Labour has described the passing of the Act as landmark in the
history of labour legislation in the country. The philosophy of the Minimum Wages Act and
its significance in the context of conditions in India has been explained by the Supreme Court
in Unichoyi v. State of Kerala26, as follows:
What the Minimum Wages Act purports to achieve is to prevent exploitation of
labour and for that purpose empowers the appropriate Government to take steps to
prescribe minimum rates of wages in the scheduled industries. In an underdeveloped
country which faces the problem of unemployment on a very large scale, it is not
unlikely that labour may offer to work even on starvation wages. The policy of the Act
is to prevent the employment of such sweated labour in the interest of general public
and so in prescribing the minimum rates, the capacity of the employer need not to be
considered. What is being prescribed is minimum wage rates which a welfare State
assumes every employer must pay before he employs labour.

26

(A.I.R. 1962 SC 12)

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According to its preamble the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, is an Act to provide for fixing
minimum rates of wages in certain employments. The employments are those which are
included in the schedule and are referred to as Scheduled Employments. The Act extends to
whole of India.
Criteria for notification of scheduled employment
Under the provisions of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, both Central and State Governments
are appropriate Governments to fix, review and revise the minimum wages of the workers
employed in the scheduled employments under their respective jurisdictions. The appropriate
Governments have also been empowered to notify any employment in the schedule where the
number of employees is 1000 or more and fix the rates of minimum wages in respect of the
employees employed therein.
There are 45 scheduled employments in the Central Sphere while in the State Sphere the
number of such employments is as many as 1596.
The Minimum Wages Act does not provide for any discrimination between male and female
workers or different minimum wages for them. All the provisions of the Act equally apply to
both male and female workers.
Methods for fixation or revision of minimum wages Fixation
Section 3 empowers appropriate Government to fix the minimum rates of wages in the
scheduled employments.
Section 3 lays down that the appropriate Government shall fix the minimum rates of wages,
payable to employees in an employment specified in Part I and Part ii of the Schedule, and in
an employment added to either part by notification under Section 27. In case of the
employments specified in Part II of the Schedule, the minimum rates of wages may not be
fixed for the entire State. Parts of the State may be left out altogether. In the case of an
employment specified in Part I, the minimum rates of wages must be fixed for the entire
State, no parts of the State being omitted. The rates to be fixed need not be uniform. Different
rates can be fixed for different zones or localities.27

27

Basti Ram v. State of A.P. A.I.R. 1969, (A.P.) 227

24 | P a g e

The constitutional validity of Section 3 was challenged in Bijoy Cotton Mills v. State of
Ajmer,28 The Supreme Court held that the restrictions imposed upon the freedom of contract
by the fixation of minimum rate of wages, though they interfere to some extent with freedom
of trade or business guarantee under Article 19(1) (g) of the Constitution, are not
unreasonable and being imposed and in the interest of general public and with a view to
carrying out one of the Directive Principles of the State Policy as embodied in Article 43 of
the Constitution, are protected by the terms of Clause (6) of Article 9.
Revision:
Revise the Minimum rates at an appropriate interval not exceeding five years.
Procedure for Fixation/Revision:
In Section 5 of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, two methods have been provided for
fixation/revision of minimum wages. They are Committee method and Notification method.
Committee Method
Under this method, committees and sub-committees are set up by the appropriate
Governments to hold enquiries and make recommendations with regard to fixation and
revision of minimum wages, as the case may be.
Notification method
In this method, Government proposals are published in the Official Gazette for information of
the persons likely to be affected thereby and specify a date not less than two months from the
date of the notification on which the proposals will be taken into consideration.
After considering advice of the Committees/Sub-committees and all the representations
received by the specified date in Notification method, the appropriate Government shall, by
notification in the Official Gazette, fix/revise the minimum wage in respect of the concerned
scheduled employment and it shall come into force on expiry of three months from the date
of its issue.

28

1955 S.C. 3

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ADVISORY BOARD
The advisory board is constituted under Section 7 of the Act by the appropriate Government
for the purpose of co-coordinating the work of committees and sub-committees appointed
under Section 5 of the Act and advising the appropriate Government generally in the matter
of fixing and revising of minimum rates of wages. According to Section 9 of the Act, the
advisory board shall consist of persons to be nominated by the appropriate Government
representing employers and employees in the scheduled employment who shall be equal in
number, and independent persons not exceeding 1/3rd of its total number of members, one of
such independent persons shall be appointed as the Chairman by the appropriate Government.
In B.Y. Kashatriya v. S.A.T. Bidi Kamgar Union,29 It is not necessary that the Board shall
consist of representatives of any particular industry or of each and every scheduled
employment. An independent person in the context of Section 9 means a person who is
neither an employer nor an employee in the employment for which the minimum wages are
to be fixed. In the case of State of Rajasthan v. Hari Ram Nathwani,30 it was held that the
mere fact that a person happens to be a Government servant will not divert him of the
character of the independent person.
Variable Dearness Allowance (VDA)31
In order to protect the minimum wages against inflation, the Central Government has made
provision of Variable Dearness Allowance (VDA) linked to Consumer Price Index Number
for Industrial Workers (CPI IW). As regards States Governments/Union Territory
Administrations, 26 of them have made VDA as a component of minimum wages. Both
Central and State Governments are revising the minimum wages in respect of these scheduled
employments from time to time with 100% neutralization. Accordingly, VDA is revised
periodically twice a year effective from 1st April and 1st October in the Central Sphere.
Minimum wages are expected to cover the essential current costs of accommodation, food
and clothing of a small family. The Minimum Wage Act, while being very progressive has
led to specific problems. Doubts have been raised on the existence of a clear and coherent
wage policy in India particularly in unorganized sector. This is mainly due to its poor norms
29

A.I.R. (1963) S.C. 806

(1975) SCC 356
31
While fixing or revising Minimum Wages, Dearness Allowance (D.A) linked to cost of living index called
Variable Dearness Allowance (V.D.A), in addition to basic wages so as to neutralise the cost of living.
30

26 | P a g e

of fixation, enforcement, implementation and coverage in various parts of the country. Some
of the issues and concerns faced in India regarding minimum wages are summarized below:
i.

Norms for fixing minim wages

The Act does not set out a minimum wage in rupee terms, but just stipulates that the wage be
a living wage32 which is to be decided by labour department in each state. Certain norms have
been laid out including that of calorie requirements, yards of cloth per family and so on. The
Act also stipulates that minimum wage rates are to be revised keeping in mind inflation.
Additionally, the guidelines laid down for the minimum wage by the 15th Indian Labour
Conference (ILC) and the Supreme Court suggest that a minimum wage for 8 hours of work
should be high enough to cover all the basic needs of the worker, his/her spouse and two
children. However, in many states while fixing the minimum wages, they are not linked to the
payment of dearness allowance. As a result, real wages of workers keep eroding due to
inflation, pushing them below the poverty line.
Another inadequacy is that though the MWA requires wages to be revised every five years,
this rarely happens. The MWA also has a clause which states that if wages are not revised,
the existing wages should continue. Such an arrangement has only led to greater laziness and
unaccountability on the part of state labour departments, leaving some workers to live below
poverty line. Further to overcome these inadequacies, the National Commission on Rural
Labour in 1990, recommended that the MWA should be amended to compel timely revision
of wages and it should be linked to VDA. It should also ensure enhancement of wages every
six months on the basis of the Consumer Price Index. How far the amendment has been
implemented in states is unknown. (For example, states like Rajasthan, Orissa etc. do not
have provision for VDA).
Different wages are fixed for the same work in different sectors. For instance, a watchman in
the shop or commercial establishment may be fixed higher or lower wages than a watchman
in the plastic industry or in a construction or maintenance of roads or building operations,
though a watchmans job will be the same wherever he may work. To overcome these
deficiencies, several states like Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, etc., have
rationalized all the different occupation categories into just four categories - unskilled, semiskilled, skilled and highly-skilled.

32

"Living wage" is the level of income sufficient to allow workers to support their families.

27 | P a g e

As per this system, only one notification is applicable to all industries, rather than the timeconsuming system of notifying wages individually for various industries. Though the system
gives clear and detailed information of minimum wages, it has not been adopted by all states,
including the Indian Labour Ministry website, which gives the minimum rate of wage (that is
wages for unskilled workers), for each occupation.
The fixation of minimum wage in India depends upon various factors like socioeconomic and
agro-climatic conditions, prices of essential commodities, paying capacity and the local
factors influencing the wage rate. It is for this reason that the minimum wages vary across the
country. In the absence of any criteria stipulated for fixing the minimum wage in the
Minimum Wages Act, the Indian Labour Conference in 1957 had said that the following
norms should be taken into account while fixing the minimum wage. The norms for fixing
minimum wage rate are
a) three consumption units per earner,
b) minimum food requirement of 2700 calories per average Indian adult,
c) cloth requirement of 72 yards per annum per family,
d) rent corresponding to the minimum area provided under the government's Industrial
Housing Scheme and
e) fuel, lighting and other miscellaneous items of expenditure to constitute 20 per cent of
the total minimum wage
f) Fuel, lighting and other miscellaneous items of expenditure to constitute 20% of the
total Minimum Wages,
g) Children

education,

medical

requirement,

minimum

recreation

including

festivals/ceremonies and provision for old age, marriage etc. should further constitute
25% of the total minimum wage.33
In September 2007, the national minimum floor level wage34 was increased to Rs 80 per day
for all scheduled employments from Rs 66 in 2004 to Rs. 45 in 1999, Rs. 40 in 1998 and Rs.
35 in 1996.
ii.

Coverage

33

http://labour.nic.in/wagecell/welcome.html
The national minimum floor level wage represents the lowest level of wage for any employment in the
country. The wage rate is applicable to all employments which are currently not covered under the Minimum
Wage Act. The State Government has to ensure that the minimum wage fixed under MWA is not lower than
the national minimum wage rate.
34

28 | P a g e

In order to have minimum wage fixed, the employment or industrial activity has to be
included in the schedule of Employments. Currently the number of scheduled employments
in the Central government is 45 whereas in the state sphere the number is 1232. The criterion
for inclusion in the list of scheduled employment is that there should be at least 1000 workers
engaged in that activity in the state. Thus, many activities are excluded from the list. This
criterion for inclusion has left a very large number of workers in the unorganised sector
outside the purview of the Minimum Wage Act.
iii.

Implementation

The main problem of minimum wage legislation in India is its poor implementation. The Act
empowers the appropriate government (Central, State or Local) to fix a minimum wage for
workers in unorganised sectors. However, often exemptions from the payment of minimum
wages have been granted to industries. In addition, minimum wage levels have been revised
only at long intervals (where the actual prescribed limit is within 5 years). Such a failure in
implementation of MWA is not only due to loopholes in policy design but is also an outcome
of lapses in the administration. Poor implementation of MWA does not affect organised
workers as much as it does to workers in unorganized sectors. Unorganised workers are
employed with millions of employers (generally small trade, enterprise, sole proprietor or
household) who are scattered and hence becomes difficult to cover them under law. This
diversity in locations and nature of work has left them vulnerable to exploitation in the
absence of a broad legal standard. Also, many workers for the fear of losing their jobs do not
report about payments lower than the minimum wage rate. At times, these workers are even
forced by their employers to certify payments below minimum wages.
iv.

Enforcement

Poor enforcement of the Act is another issue prevalent in most of the states in India. The
issue arises mainly due to lack of awareness amongst the workers about minimum wage
provisions and their entitlement under the labour laws. Surveys have shown that almost 80
per cent of the workers in unorganized sector earn less than 20 rupees a day or less than half
the government-stipulated rural minimum wage of 49 rupees a day and urban wage of 67
rupees35. This is particularly true in remote areas and in areas where workers are not

35

March 11, 2008, Rising labour concerns for Indian government, Business Standard.

29 | P a g e

unionized or otherwise organised. As a result their wages have long since failed to keep pace
with rising costs and continue to diminish in real value over time.
The enforcement of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 is secured at two levels. While in the
Central Sphere, the enforcement is secured through the Inspecting officers of the Chief
Labour Commissioner (Central) commonly designated as Industrial Relations Machinery
(CIRM), the compliance in the State Sphere is ensured through the State Enforcement
Machinery. They conduct regular inspections and in the event of detection of any case of
non-payment or under-payment of minimum wages, they advise the employers to make
payment of the shortfall of wages. In case of non-compliance, penal provisions prescribed in
the Act are taken recourse to.
v.

Need for meaningful minimum wage policy

In spite of vast number of workers in unorganized sector, and their substantial contribution to
the national economy, they are amongst the poorest sections of Indias population. It is
therefore imperative that urgent steps are taken to improve their condition. Infrequent
revisions and inadequate cost of living adjustments have been a marked feature of minimum
wages in India. The rates of minimum wages so fixed in few states, is not enough even for
two times meal in a day, leave aside the needs of health, education and shelter. In specific
terms, the issues and problems of the wage policy in both organised and unorganised sector,
relate to the elements like need based minimum wage, protection of the real wages through
compensation for rise in the cost of living, incentives for increases in productivity,
allowances for hazards of occupation, wage differentials for skills, etc.
Though it is desirable to have a National Wage Policy it is difficult to conceive a concept of
the same. The National Wage Policy has been discussed on many occasions in different fora.
Because fixation of wages depends on a number of criteria like local conditions, cost of living
and paying capacity also varies from State to State and from industry to industry, it would be
difficult to maintain uniformity in wages. The Indian Labour Conference, held in November,
1985 expressed the following views:"Till such time a national wage is feasible, it would be desirable to have regional
minimum wages in regard to which the Central Government may lay down the
guidelines. The Minimum Wages should be revised at regular periodicity and should
be linked with rise in the cost of living"
30 | P a g e

Accordingly, the Government issued guidelines for setting up of Regional Minimum Wages
Advisory Committees. These Committees renamed subsequently as Regional Labour
Ministers Conference, made a number of recommendations which include reduction in
disparities in minimum wages in different states of a region, setting up of inter-state
Coordination Council, consultation with neighbouring States while fixing/revising minimum
wages etc.
The main objective to be considered while fixing or revising the minimum wage rate should
be two fold
1. Social objective: that is, by providing sufficient purchasing power to the worker,
enable him/her to have a basic standard of living. In long run such a step would help
in abolishing labour exploitation and poverty.
2. Economic objective: The rate of minimum wage should be fixed at such a level
which would motivate workers and enable them to enjoy the benefits of economic
growth, and thereby contribute to the economy.36 For example, the Sixth Central Pay
Commission (CPC) has fixed the minimum wage of Central Government employees
at Rs 5740. The first four scales of pay suggested by the Fifth CPC for the Group D
Employees of the government have now been removed, under the Sixth CPC. The
existing employees in these grades are to be moved to Group C cadres through a
process of training thereby indicating that the unskilled functions in the governmental
sector would be contracted or outsourced.
Two major and recent initiatives for providing social security to the workers in the informal
sector have been passed in the parliament; a) the National Rural Employment Guarantee
(NREG) Act 2005 and, b) the Social Security for Unorganised (Informal) Sector Workers.
The National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREG) Act 2005 is meant for the working poor
in villages to take care of the problem of underemployment and thus to enhance their income
that would make them less poor or cross the officially determined poverty line. It entitles
adult citizens in rural areas to seek work up to 100 days per household per year. With the
implementation of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, hopes are raised for
meeting basic needs of workers in unorganised sector, by earning minimum wages at least.

36

http://www.amrc.org.hk

31 | P a g e

On the other hand, Social Security scheme covers health (hospitalisation for self and family)
and maternity, life and disability and old age security in the form of state pension for those
belonging to poor households and a provident fund for others. The scheme is based on
contributions from workers, employers and government in the ratio of 1:1:1.
Minimum Wage legislation in India requires the active support of workers, trade unions, and
labour associations. It would also require sincerity on part of the labour departments in each
state to determine minimum wage rate on the basis of ethical and humanitarian concerns in
order to ensure basic subsistence to workers in unorganized sectors. Implementation of
government policies and legislations is the main problem in the unorganized sector. Also, low
productivity in unorganised sectors, limitation of avenues for gainful employment, lack of
organisation on the part of workers, affects their bargaining capacity, accounting for their
vulnerable situation. Hence, involvement of non-government organizations and trade unions
can play an important role in better enforcement of minimum wages act. For example, Self
Employed Women Association (SEWA) in Ahmedabad.
SEWA is the 7th largest trade union organisation in India working towards organizing
women workers (mainly in informal sector) for full employment, which means employment
whereby workers obtain work security, income security, food security and social security (at
least health care, child care and shelter). SEWA has been organising workers in the dyeing,
chemical and screen-printing industry, agarbatti rollers, ragpickers, street vendors, etc for
many years now. Involvement of such organisations gives a voice to workers in unorganised
sectors in collective bargaining. Ignorance and illiteracy are the main reasons for exploitation
of workers in unorganized sectors. Trade unions and NGOs can help by making the workers
aware of the legal provisions of the minimum wage rate and the benefits to which they are
entitled.
Also, minimum wage data is not readily available. Only limited official data is available from
national labour ministry website which may or may not be updated on regularly basis. The
information available does not permit extensive comparison on wages in formal and informal
sector due to different formats of reporting or recording of wage rate in each state. Minimum
Wage Checker on Paycheck website provides the information on minimum wages in each
Indian state. The minimum wage data collected from labour department in each state is
uploaded on the website in a detailed format enabling inter-state comparison easy.

32 | P a g e

The need of the hour is not only to increase the basic rates of minimum wages but the basic
approach towards the whole issue also needs to be changed. The prevailing system of
minimum wages, instead of abolishing the poverty, is in fact increasing it. Initiatives like
strengthening the enforcement machinery, simplifying the procedure relating to coverage and
revisions of minimum wage rate, linking the rates with the Consumer Price Index Numbers
(CPI), and increasing the involvement of various workers' organisations in the
implementation of the Minimum Wages Act, are some of the steps advocated to improve the
situation.
Steps taken to reduce disparities: Five Regional Committees
There is disparity in rates of minimum wages in various regions of the country. This is due to
differences in socio-economic and agro-climatic conditions, prices of essential commodities,
paying capacity, productivity and local conditions influencing the wage rate. The regional
disparity in minimum wages is also attributed to the fact that both the Central and State
Governments are the appropriate Government to fix, revise and enforce minimum wages in
scheduled employments in their respective jurisdictions under the Act. To bring uniformity in
the minimum wages of scheduled employments, the Union Government has requested the
States to form regional Committees. At present there are five Regional Minimum Wages
Advisory Committees in the country, which are as under: Region
Eastern Region [6]

States/UTs covered
West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand,
Chhattisgarh and Andaman & Nicobar
Islands

North Eastern Region (8)

Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur,

Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura
and Sikkim

Southern Region (6)

Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala,

Tamil

Nadu,

Pondicherry

and

Lakshadweep
Northern Region (9)

Punjab, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh,

Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana, Uttar
33 | P a g e

Pradesh,

Uttarakhand,

Delhi

and

Chandigarh
Western Region (6)

Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Madhya

Pradesh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and
Daman & Diu

National Floor Level Minimum Wage

In order to have a uniform wage structure and to reduce the disparity in minimum wages
across the country, a concept of National Floor Level Minimum Wage was mooted on the
basis of the recommendations of the National Commission on Rural Labour (NCRL) in 1991.
Keeping in view the recommendation of NCRL and subsequent rises in price indices, the
National Floor Level Minimum Wage was fixed at Rs.35/- per day in 1996. Keeping in view
the rise in Consumer Price Index the Central Government raised the National Floor Level
Minimum wage to Rs.40/- per day in 1998. Further to Rs.45/- w.e.f. 01.12.1999 and Rs. 50/per day w.e.f. 01.09.2002. Based on the norms suggested by the Working Group and its
acceptance by the Central Advisory Board subsequently in its meeting held on 19.12.2003,
the National Floor Level Minimum Wage was revised upwards to Rs.66/- per day with effect
from 1.02.2004. On the basis of increase in the Consumer Price Index, the Central
Government further revised the National Floor Level Minimum Wages from Rs.66/- to
Rs.80/- per day with effect from 01.09.2007. It is, however, clarified that the National Floor
Level Minimum Wage, is a non-statutory measure to ensure upward revision of minimum
wages in different in States/UTs. Thus, the State Governments are persuaded to fix
minimum wages such that in none of the scheduled employments, the minimum wage is less
than National Floor Level Minimum Wage. This method has helped in reducing disparity
among different rates of minimum wages to some extent.

34 | P a g e

Minimum Wage
The Indian economy is characterised by a dualism, i.e., the existence of comparatively well
organised sector along with the decentralised sector with a large population which is selfemployed37. According to reports, 422.6 (94%) million workers out of the total workforce of
457.5 million belong to the unorganised/informal sector38 in India. These workers contribute
to more than 60 per cent to Indias GDP growth.
The Constitution of India envisages a just and humane society and accordingly gives place to
the concept of living wage in the chapter on Directive Principles of State Policy. The
Minimum Wages Act, 1948 is based on Article 43 of the Constitution of India which states
that, "The State shall endeavour to secure by suitable legislation or economic organisation or
in any other way to all workers, agricultural, industrial or otherwise, work, a living wage
(emphasis added) conditions of work ensuring a decent standard of life and full enjoyment of
leisure and social and cultural opportunities".39
The term 'Labour' is included in the 'concurrent list' of the Constitution which provides for
labour legislation both by the central and the state governments. Labour laws for most
workers in the informal sector are enforced by the state governments, while that for
contractors and casual workers in establishments is regulated by the central government. All
labour laws enacted by the central government directly or indirectly influence wage level and
structure of wages in the informal sector.
The Minimum wage legislation is the main labour legislation for the workers in unorganized
sector. In India, the policy on wage determination had been to fix minimum wages in
sweating employments and to promote fair wage agreements in the more organised
industries. Wages in the organised sector are determined through negotiations and settlements
between employer and employees. On the other hand, in unorganised sector, where labour is
vulnerable to exploitation due to illiteracy and does not have effective bargaining power, the
intervention of the government becomes necessary.

37

http://planningcommission.nic.in/plans/planrel/fiveyr/6th/6planch24.html
Informal sector in India is broadly characterized as consisting of units engaged in the production of goods
and services with the primary objectives of generating employment and incomes to the persons concern. The
workers in informal sector are engaged in economic activities which are not officially regulated and which
operate outside the incentive system offered by the state and its institutions.
39
http://nceus.gov.in/Report_Bill_July_2007.htm
38

35 | P a g e

The Minimum Wage Act, 1948 provides for fixation and enforcement of minimum wages in
respect of schedule employments to prevent sweating or exploitation of labour through
payment of low wages. The objective of the Act is to ensure a minimum subsistence wage for
workers. The Act requires the appropriate government to fix minimum rates of wages in
respect of employment specified in the schedule and review and revise the minimum rates of
wages at intervals not exceeding five years. Once a minimum wage is fixed according to the
provisions of the Act, it is not open to the employer to plead his inability to pay the said
wages to his employees.
The minimum wage rate may be fixed at
a. time rate,
b. piece rate,
c. guaranteed time rate and
d. Overtime rate.
The Act provides that different minimum wage rate may be fixed for
i.

different scheduled employments,

ii.

different works in the same employment,

iii.

adult, adolescent and children,

iv.

different locations or

v.

Male and female.

Also, such minimum wage may be fixed by

a) an hour,
b) day,
c) month, or
d) Any other period as may be prescribed by the notified authority.
The Minimum Wage Act, 1948 (Section 12.1) states Where in respect of any scheduled
employment a notification under section 5 is in force the employer shall pay to every
employee engaged in a scheduled employment under him wages at a rate not less than the
minimum rate of wages fixed by such notification for that class of employees in that
employment without any deductions.

36 | P a g e

As per Section 4(1), the minimum rates of wages fixed or revised by the appropriate authority
(Central or State Government) for the scheduled employments shall take into account the
following:
1. a basic rate of wages and a special allowance at a rate to be adjusted at intervals with
the variation in the cost of living index number applicable to such workers; or
2. a basic rate of wages with or without the cost of living allowance, and the cash value
of the concessions in respect of supplies of essential commodities at concessional
rates, where so authorised; or
3. an all-inclusive rate allowing for the basic rate, the cost of living allowance and the
cash value of the concessions, if any
The 15th Indian Labour Conference (1957) defined the following norms to calculate
minimum wage:
1. 3 consumption units for one earner.
2. Minimum food requirements of 2700 calories per average Indian adult.
3. Clothing requirements of 72 yards per annum per family
4. Rent corresponding to the minimum area provided for under Governments Industrial
Housing Scheme.
5. Fuel, lighting and other miscellaneous items of expenditure to constitute 20% of the
total Minimum Wages
Other parameters
i.

"Children

education,

medical

requirement,

minimum

recreation

including

festivals/ceremonies and provision for old age, marriage etc. should further constitute
25% of the total minimum wage."
ii.

Local conditions and other factors influencing the wage rate.

These norms were further enhanced by the Supreme Court in its judgment in the case of
Reptakos Brett and Co. v. Its workmen40 by an additional 25% of the total minimum wage
for education, medical requirement, minimum recreation including festivals/ceremonies and
provision for old age, marriage etc

40

(1991)

37 | P a g e

However in complete disregard of the above, the daily minimum wage today in most states
hovers around Rs 100, with Nagaland even lower at Rs 80 and Delhi highest at Rs 203. As
per calculations done by NTUI, the daily minimum wage today, as per norms fixed in the
15th ILC, is Rs 260 in rural areas and Rs 347 in urban areas (not including rent).
The fact that essentials like fuel, lighting, education, medical treatment are estimated to be
only 45% of food expense assumes that these are heavily subsidized by the State an
obviously incorrect assumption, especially in light of current neoliberal policies. Further
these guidelines do not account for transportation costs, which are significant and increasing
given current migration patterns.
Fixing a minimum wage below the norms prescribed by the 15th ILC is not an oversight but a
calculated exercise. The Second National Commission on Labour Report notes, Wage
Boards after the Second Pay Commission (1957-59) have not found it possible to fix the
need-based minimum wages recommended by the Indian Labour Conference (1957). The
Report of the Committee, set up by the first National Commission on Labour, on the
Functioning of the System of Wage Boards (cited in the Report of NCL, 1969) found it
infeasible because the need-based minimum would be beyond the capacity of the industry to
pay and might result in the transference of the burden to the consumer. Subsequently the
Sub-committee D of the Standing Committee of Labour Ministers (1981) diluted the norms
prescribed in the 15th ILC recommending, the level of minimum wage should not be below
the poverty line, and further diluted by The Report of the Committee of Secretaries of States
(1981) which reduced per day caloric requirements to 2400 calories in rural areas and 2100
calories in urban areas
However even these low statutory wages are not being paid. As per simulations from
household data in the ILO report, Extending the Coverage of Minimum Wages in India,
at least up 73 million workers (out of 173 million waged workers) received wages below the
national minimum wage floor of Rs. 66 per day in 2004-05. This includes more than half
of all casual workers (58.6 million earners) and another one-fourth of all salaried workers
(or 14.5 million workers). Unsurprisingly, female workers and those residing in rural areas
are more likely to earn below minimum wages. The report adds, These high proportions
may result from a variety of reasons, but presumably include a large number of workers in
schedules that are not-covered by the minimum wage legislation.

38 | P a g e

Minimum wage inadequate for minimum needs and the widespread prevalence of payment
below minimum wage is an outcome of both lacunae in the legislation and poor enforcement.
As highlighted above, the Minimum Wage Act does not define the method of calculation of
minimum wage, thus allowing arbitrary fixation by Central and state governments. Further,
respective governments are only advised to revise wage rates after a period not exceeding
five years, which too is optional. The Act also doesnt mandate inflation indexation.
Indexation was recommended only in the Labour Ministers Conference (1988) and the
variable dearness allowance (VDA) linked to CPI. Only 26 states/UTs incorporate VDA as a
component of minimum wage. Further, the Act covers only those employments listed in the
two schedules, thus leaving a whole raft of employments not notified (e.g., domestic workers)
outside the protection of the legislation. Finally enforcement is strictly top-down through
labour inspectors with no mechanism for bottoms-up reporting to enforce compliance. This
years Labour Ministrys report notes that 66% workers are employed in enterprises having
less than 10 workers and 44% are employed in seasonal or ad-hoc enterprises. Given the
dispersed and casual nature of employment, it is obvious that top-down enforcement (even if
sincere) is very difficult. This has obvious policy implications such as the need for market
level intervention through employment guarantee programs, and aggregated delivery of social
security benefits.
Minimum Wage and the MGNREGA
While enforcing compliance with the Minimum Wage Act is difficult, the MGNREGA has
been remarkably effective in actualizing minimum wages for the unorganized worker. The
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act entitles each rural family up to
100 days of unskilled work at minimum wage. The introduction of the Act increased worker
bargaining power even on non-NREGA works thus raising extremely depressed wage rates to
prevailing minimum wage rates across the country. By reducing distress migration, the
MGNREGA also helped reduce deflationary pressure on wage rates in urban areas due to
surplus labour. Thus experience with NREGA demonstrates the value of employment
guarantee programs in the implementation of minimum wages.
However the gains from the MGNREGA are not just being squandered away, they are in fact
being reversed. In January, 2009, the Government of India issued a notification under Section
6(1) of the MGNREGA, which delinked MGNREGA wages from the Minimum Wage Act
freezing MGNREGA wages at the prevailing state minimum wage or up to Rs 100 per day.
39 | P a g e

Today, MGNREGA wages in at least 19 states are less than the prevailing state minimum
wage, thus hitting the worker not just in real economic terms, but de facto capping market
wages to below minimum wage.
Sanctity of the Minimum Wage Act
Supreme Court in three separate rulings has held that nonpayment of minimum wages is
tantamount to forced labour prohibited under Article 23 of the Constitution. The Supreme
Court holds that forced labour may arise in several ways, including compulsion arises
from hunger and poverty, want and destitution. In Sanjit Roy v. State of Rajasthan41, the
Supreme Court held that the Exemption Act in so far as it excluded the applicability of the
Minimum Wages Act 1948 to the workmen employed in famine relief work is clearly
violative of Article 23. Thus even public works ostensibly initiated by the government for
the sole purpose of providing employment are subject to the Minimum Wage Act.
Drawing on the Supreme Court rulings, Andhra High Court set aside the Government of
India notification mandating that prevailing state minimum wage be paid. This has been
underscored in the legal opinion provided by Additional Solicitor General, Ms. Indira
Jaising, to the Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC) Working Group on
Wages where she made it clear that using Section 6(1) to allow a payment of less than
minimum wage in MGNREGA works will amount to forced labour. 15 eminent jurists and
lawyers of India too have asked Government of India to immediately revoke its
unconstitutional notification and ensure that minimum wages are paid to all workers in India.
Three Chief Ministers (Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala) have written to the Prime
Minister requesting the Ministry of Rural Developments (MoRD) compliance with the
Minimum Wage Act, followed by a letter from the Chairperson, NAC and UPA, to the Prime
Minister calling his attention to find urgent resolution of this matter. Finally, the Labour
Ministry too has reiterated its fundamental objection to Section 6(1), warning that using
Section 6(1) to allow payment of less than prevailing state minimum wage will not stand
legal scrutiny.
However despite this overwhelming legal and political consensus, both the Government and
the Government of Andhra Pradesh continue to be in contempt of the Andhra Pradesh High
Court (July 2009) citing fiscal concerns. In fact in his response to the Chairperson, NAC
41

(1983)

40 | P a g e

regarding violation of minimum wages in NREGA, the PM has asserted that the wage rate
under NREGA is independent of the provisions of the Minimum Wages Act, a statement that
runs counter of the established Constitutional, legal and political opinion
In the case of Edward Mills v. State of Ajmer42, wherein, power was delegated to the
administrative authority to add any industry within the ambit of the Minimum Wages Act,
1948. The court held that there is no excessive delegation as the purpose of the Act, which
was to avoid exploitation of labour due to unequal bargaining power, provided sufficient
policy guideline for executive to act.
In case of Workmen Represented by Secretary v. Management of Reptakos Brett and Co.
Ltd. and Anr43, the court held that the childrens education, medical requirement, minimum
recreation including festivals/ceremonies, provision for old age, marriage etc. should be
constitute 25% of the minimum wage and used as a guide in fixation of minimum wages. The
State Governments have been requested from time to time to keep the above norms and
pronouncement in view while fixing/revising the minimum wages.
In Burmah-Shell Oil Storage and Distributing Co. of India, Ltd., Bombay v. Their
Workmen44, the Labour Appellate Tribunal had occasion to consider the content of the living
wage. In that connection it referred to the Report of the

Fair

Wages

Committee,

and

observed that the level of national income in India is so low that the country is unable to
afford to prescribe by law a minimum wage which would correspond to the concept of a
living wage. The rudder is set in the direction of a living wage", observed the Appellate
Tribunal, but the destination is not yet within sight; the gradual emergence of a welfare State
will naturally help but even here progress is necessarily slow.
In Standard Vacuum Oil Company v. Their Employees45, the Labour Appellate Tribunal
was called upon to consider the plea that the companies were paying a living wage to their
employees. In dealing with the said contention the Appellate Tribunal observed that "the
measurement of the living wage standard in terms of money has not been prescribed by law
of the country, nor, as far as we are aware, has been determined anywhere in any scientific
basis ". In its opinion, it was neither possible nor necessary to fix the amount with exactitude
which should form the minimum living wage after an exhaustive enquiry for considering the
42

1955 AIR 25, 1955 SCR (1) 735

1992 AIR 504, 1991 SCR Supl. (2) 129
44
[1953] 2 L.L.J. 246
45
[1954] 1 L.L.J. 484J
43

41 | P a g e

question of bonus, because, according to the principle laid down the whole gap between the
existing wages and the living wage need not be filled up. That is why it thought that it would
be sufficient for the purpose if an approximate idea can be formed by taking into account the
approximate expenditure on the necessary items of requirements of the living wage standard.
On these considerations the plea raised by the companies was rejected. It would thus be seen
that the oil companies have been persistently making the claim before the industrial tribunals
that they need not be called

upon to pay bonus to their employees on the ground that they

are paying them a living wage.

In the case of Linge Gowda Detective and Security Chamber (P) Ltd. v. Authority46, A
detective agency is not covered under the provisions of this Act. There is no logic that when
the employees as engaged through the detective agency worked in an engineering industry,
the employer is liable to pay the minimum wages but when the same employees engaged by
the detective agency are on private duty, they are not entitled to such minimum wages.
Hence, no relief could be granted, either against the contractor or the principal employer.
In A. V. Parkash v. Senior Labour Inspector47, The definition of employer is a restrictive
definition and only a person who employs one or more employees in any scheduled
employment would be the employer within the meaning of the Act and no doubt it includes
the employees as detailed in the various sub-clauses of section 2(e).
In Bandhua Mukti Morcha v. Union of India48, it was held that a piece-rated worker is also
entitled to receive the minimum wages irrespective of his output.
In Patel Ishwerbhai Pramod Bhai v. Taluka Development Officer49, Where certain tubewell operators were working in the District and Taluka Panchayats they would be in the
Scheduled employment as contemplated by section 2(g), employment under any local
authority being item 6 in the Schedule to the Act, and as such, would be entitled to minimum
wages under the Act.
In Chacko v. Varkey50, An ex-employee is competent to claim relief under the Minimum
Wages Act.

46

1998 LTR 77
1994 LLR 304 (Karn)
48
(1984) SCC (L&S) 389
49
1983 Lab 1C 321: (1983) 1 SCC 403: 1983 (62) FJR 189: (1983) 1 LLJ 237
50
1961 (3) FLR 508: 1961-62 (21) FJR 493
47

42 | P a g e

In Benode Bihari Shah v. State of W.B.,51 it was held that there is correlation between
minimum rates of wages and hours of work. Minimum wages are to be fixed on basis of
standard normal working hours, namely 48 hours a week.
In Madhya Pradesh Bidi Udyog Sangh, Sagar v. State of Madhya Pradesh52, Any payment
which partakes the nature of lay-off compensation cannot fall within the term wages as
defined in section 2(h).
In Athni Municipality v. Shiettappa Laxman Pattan53, Having regard to the context and
object of the Act, a discharged employee must also be held to be an employee within the
meaning of the Act.
In Shiv Prasad Ghosh v. District Judge54, Under the definition of the word employer in
section 2(e) (iv) of the Act, any person responsible to the owner for the supervision and
control of the employees or for the payment of wages to them is also an employer.
In President, Cinema Workers Union affiliated to Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh v. Secretary,
Social Welfare and Labour Department55; The Govt. cannot take shelter under proviso to
sec, 3(1) (b) of the Act for postponing to issue the revised notification after five years. The
Govt. cannot indefinitely postpone the issuance of revised notification fixing minimum
wages. Definitely, the period of 13 years cannot be said to be reasonable period.
In Govind Bhawan Karyalaya v. State of U.P.56, Where a notification by itself does not
intend to make any classification of workmen except classification for fixing minimum rates
of wages for adult employees, it was held that such classification is permissible in law, and
accordingly such notification is not bad or invalid.
In Woolcombers of India v. Workers Union57, The minimum wages must be paid by the
employer notwithstanding the want of financial capacity.
In Hydro (Engineers) Put. Ltd. v. The Workmen58, In order to make the wages realistic they
must be commensurate with the price rise in essential commodities. The apology that the

51

1976 Lab I.C. 523 (Cal)

1981 Lab 1C 363: 1981 Lab LN 434: (1981) LLJ 756
53
(1965) II LLJ 307
54
1963 (6) FJR 447: (1963) II LLR.) 384
55
2005 LLR 648
56
1998 LLR 287
57
AIR 1973 SC 2758: 197,3 (27) FLR 38
52

43 | P a g e

employer may be constrained to shut his business if minimum wages are to be paid is simply
untenable.
In Bidi, Bidi Leaves and Tobacco Merchants Association v. State of Bombay59, Section 3
empowers the appropriate Government to fix the minimum rates of wages, thereby enabling
the appropriate Government to alter the existing legal condition between the employer and
employee which is not commensurate with the provisions of the Act.
In Unichoyi (U) v. State of Kerala60, Employers capacity to pay is no bearing in fixing the
minimum wages of the employees. Such consideration is antilogs to the principles enshrined
within the Constitution of India.
In Abraham v. Industrial Tribunal61, The Act does not confer any power on the government
to insist that an employer employing workers on time rate should pay them at piece-rates.
Neither the government has any power to issue any notification on the basis of section 3 to
make such metamorphosis of payment.
In Bhikusa Yamasakshatriya v. Sanagmanes Akola Paluka Bidi Kamgar Union62, Cost of
living index is not a strict basis for fixing the rates of minimum wages and if not strictly
adhered to, it does not constitute a breach of statutory duty.
In Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce, Bangalore v. State of Karnataka63, Section 4 is
a definite indication that basic wage is an integral part of the minimum wage. It is not correct
to say that a minimum wage under section 4(1) necessarily should consist of basic wage and
dearness allowance. The language of section 4 does not lend itself to such an interpretation.
On the plain terms of section 4(1) it is clear that the payment of dearness allowance would
arise only if the basic wage fixed for a category of workmen fell short of the minimum wage
which the State Government has to fix taking into consideration the needs of the workers
family consisting of three consumption units.
In Krishna Flour Mills v. Commissioner of Labour64, The State issued a notification to pay
separate allowance in addition to the basic wages, which was not challenged as to its validity
58

1969 (18) FLR 189: (1969) 1 LLJ 713

1962 (4) FLR 71: (1961) II LLJ 663
60
Ibid 23
61
(1961) II LLJ 556
62
AIR 1960 Bom 299: (1959) II LLJ 578
63
1986 Lab 1C 1890: LLR 1986 Kant 2183
64
1997 (77) FLR 241
59

44 | P a g e

by the appellants. Held, they have to pay the wages now being paid and in addition to that
the minimum rate of cost of living allowance is to be paid by them separately, as per the
notification, even if they are paying higher rate of wages.
In T.G. Lakshmaiah Setty & Sons, Adoni v. State of Andhra Pradesh65, What is
contemplated by the Act to be notified under section 5(i) (b) is no doubt draft proposals. The
objection to draft proposals can be made both by employers and employees as well. Thus, if
the employees had exercised their privilege to represent and ask for higher wages and if
eventually the State authorities had adopted higher rates of minimum wages that cannot be
found fault with.
In Bijay Unchana Paul v. State of Assam66, It is necessary that the appropriate Government
in issuing notifications for prescribing the rates of minimum wages under the Minimum
Wages Act, 1948, punctiliously follows the letter of law and strictly complies with all the
procedures laid down in the Act.
In Chakradharpur Bidi and Tobacco Merchants Association v. State of Bihar67, The
Advisory body has no functioning of quasi-judicial nature and their recommendation/decision
is not binding on the State Government but the same remains only a recommendation and
nothing more than that. Merely because one member of the Board was extra, the
recommendation of the Advisory Board would not be vitiated.
In Government of India v. Barium Chemicals Ltd.68, The term independent persons is
used in contradiction to the words persons representing employers and employees in the
scheduled employment. Therefore, the term contemplates neither the category of employers
nor the employees. Also there is no reason to think that Government employees are excluded
In Ramkrishna Ramnath v. State of Maharashtra69, The variety of expression of the term
independent persons in section 9 is that it has the condition of being auto-cephalous.
Therefore, the provisions of the Act do not prescribe that a government servant cannot be a
member of the Advisory Board or that if he is a member he cannot be considered to be an
independent person within the meaning of section 9.

65

1981 Lab 1C 690

1969 (19) FLR 11
67
1997 (77) FLR 339
68
1985 Lab 1C 1634: AIR 1985 SC 1351: 1985 (67) FJR 157: 1985 (51) FLR 256
69
1963 (7) FLR 373: (1963) II LLJ 458
66

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In Militant Security Bureau Put. Ltd. v. B.R. Hehar70, once a contractors establishment is
covered under the Minimum Wages Act, the employees engaged through the contractor shall
be entitled to the wages as fixed under the Act.
In Union for Democratic Rights v. Union of India71, Where a person provides labour or
service to another for remuneration which is less than the minimum wages, such labour is
forced labour within the meaning of article 23 of the Constitution and thereby entitles the
person to invoke article 32 or article 226 of the Constitution of India.
In Municipal Council, Hatta v. Bhagat Singh72, Section 14 provides for payment of
overtime only to those employees who are getting minimum rate of wages under the Act. It
does not apply to those getting better wages under other Statutory Rules.
In V. V. Surya Rau v. Surendra Ramkrishna Tendulkar73, Every employer, including a
contractor who engages labourers for others who owns the establishment/factory, etc., is
bound by the provisions of this Act, to comply with the requirement of maintaining Registers
etc., there is no exemption to this mandatory obligation of the employer including any
contractor.
In Executive Engineer, Rural Works Division, Mayurbhanj v. Addl. District Magistrate,
Mayurbhanj74, Claim of arrears of differential wages made by employee. There was delay in
filing application beyond limitation period. Claimant submitted that they were pursuing their
grievance before Labour Officer- Only when they failed, they approached, the authority. Held
that delay had been rightly condoned.
In Sri Gandhian Bus Service Chingleput v. Labour Court75, Where a period of limitation is
prescribed by section 20 of [he Act, power of the authority is coupled with the privilege to
condone delay, the delay has to be explained and sufficient cause shown just opposite under
section 5 of the Limitation Act, 1963.
In Awadh Lal Sah v. State of Bihar76, The minimum wages becoming payable can be
claimed by an application presented within six months from the date on which it became
70

(1991) 2 CLK 245 (Bom)

1982 Lab 1C It46: 1982 (45) FLR 140:1983 (62) FJR 1
72
1998 LLR 298
73
1997 (77) FLR 280
74
2005 LLR 121
75
(1964) I LLJ 709
76
1984 Lab 1C 169 (Pat HC)
71

46 | P a g e

payable and if presented after the expiry of the period of limitation, the applicant has to
satisfy the authority that he had sufficient cause for not making the application within such
period.
In B. Ramdas v. The Authority under Minimum Wages Act, Guntur Region, Guntur77,
while making the enquiry into the claim petition under section 20 of the Act, the authority
acts in quasi-judicial capacity and ipso-facto should ensure that no prejudice is caused to the
employer by failure to follow the rules of natural justice.
In Delhi Administration v. Presiding Officer78, The disabled employee whose quality and
quantity of work are not questioned should not be denied dignity of labour by paying them
less than the minimum wages merely because they are disabled, more so when the enterprise
is run by Govt.
In A.V. Prakash v. Senior Labour Inspector79, The appropriate Government is enabled to fix
the minimum rates of wages payable to the employees employed in an employment specified
in Part 1 or Part II of the Schedule or an employment added to either part by notification
under section 27. The detective and security service cannot in any way be linked to any of the
scheduled employment detailed in Parts I and II.
In case of Bakshsish Singh v. Darshan Engineering Works,80 it was held that there is one
principle which admits of no exception. No industry has right to exit unless it is able to pay
its workmen at least a bare minimum wage. If an employer even a bare subsistence or
minimum wage, he would have no right to conduct his enterprise on such terms.
In case of Premier Tobacco Packers (P) Ltd. v. Assistance Labour Officer81, it was held that
an order imposing a monetary liability caused by violation of provisions of the statute cannot
be upheld except in the presence of strict proof.
In case of Bijay Cotton Mills Ltd. v. State of Ajmer82, it was held by the court that it is a
criminal offence not to pay the minimum wages fixed under the provisions of the act.

77

1987 Lab 1C 1493: 1987-2 APLJ (HC) 137

2004 (100) FLR 334
79
1994 LLR 304 (Karn)
80
1994 LLR IC 690
81
1988 Lab IC 283 (AP- HC): 1988-I LLN 743
82
Ibid 25
78

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In case of Yadav Stores, Nagpur v. Presiding Officer, Labour Court III, it was held that in
a comprise or a settlement between the employer and the employee resulting in the employee
relinquish or reducing his claim with regard to wages under the Minimum Wages Act shall be
null and void, as his right under the Act is a definite claim.
In Harish C. Brahmbhatt v. Oil and Natural Gas Commission83, under the circumstances, it
is not a case in which the interim relief is required to be extended any more. However,
considering the fact that the matter is pending before this Court since 1986 and since 1986,
the petitioners have been continued in service by virtue of the interim order of this Court as
well as they were paid Rs.150/- per day since the order of the learned single Judge in Civil
Application No. 7111 of 2000, in my view, the interim reliefs granted earlier are required to
be continued for the purpose of enabling the petitioners to take appropriate recourse to law. In
the facts and circumstances of the case, the interim reliefs, which are granted earlier, are
ordered to be continued up to 16th January, 2004.
In case of Jaswant Rai Beri and Ors. v. State Of Punjab And Anr.84, if it is open to the
Government to depart from the advice tendered by the Advisory Committee, then Section
5(2) contravenes Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution. This matter, however, has been
authoritatively decided by the Supreme Court in Bijay Cotton Mills Ltd. v. State of Ajmer85,
wherein it has been held that the Government's power to fix minimum wages is not in
contravention of Article 19(1) (g) of the Constitution and that it is protected by Article 19(6).
In Crown Aluminium Works v. Their Workmen86, has observed that there is, however, one
principle which admits of no exceptions. No industry has a right to exist unless it is able to
pay its workmen at least a bare minimum wage. It is quite likely that in under-developed
countries where unemployment prevails on a very large scale, unorganised labour may be
available on starvation wages; but the employment of labour on starvation wages cannot be
encouraged or favoured in a modern democratic welfare State.
In West Coast Employers' Federation v. State Of Kerala and Ors87, the award I. D. No. 17
of 1957 would not be superseded by the notification, although it purports to supersede the
wage rates fixed under all the awards, it is only necessary to say, that the award in I. D. No.
83

on 23 December, 2003
AIR 1958 P H 425
85
Ibid 47
86
AIR 1958 SC 30 (C)
87
(1967) ILLJ 756 Ker
84

48 | P a g e

17 of 1957 applies only to some of the tile factories in the Feroka area and that no employer
from that area has come to this Court to challenge the notification. Petitioners 1 to 3 cannot
ventilate the individual grievances of their members, the decision in The Perumbavoor
Merchant's Association v. The Pemmbavoor Municipal Council88, and the 4th petitioner
has no tile factory in the Feroke area. So, the argument that under Section 3 (2A) the
direction in Ext. P-1 Notification that the rates of wages fixed in all awards will be
superseded is bad does not arise for consideration.
In Kishan Lal & Sons v. Govt. of. Nct. of Delhi & Ors89, The petitioner is accordingly
directed to make payment of wages to the respondent no. 3 at the rate, whichever is higher,
between the last drawn wages and the minimum wages which are notified by the authorities
from time to time. The arrears of the wages at this rate shall be paid to the
respondent/workman at the address disclosed in his affidavit filed in support of the
application within a period of four weeks from today. Month by month wages in terms of the
order passed today shall be paid to the workman at the same address on or before the 7th of
each english calender month.
In Sanjit Roy v. State of Rajasthan90, it has been observed that in so far as the Rajasthan
Famine Relief Works Employees (Exemption from Labour Laws) Act exempts and excludes
the applicability of the Minimum Wages Act in relation to workmen employed in famine
relief work and permits payment less than the Minimum Wages, it offends Article 23 of the
Constitution and is ultra vires.
In The Management v. The Plantation Officer91, the authority had found that 'B' and 'C'
divisions are one and the same plantation and covered by the provisions of the Plantations
Labour Act and that the workers have received minimum wages notified for the plantation
labours, this court is not inclined to interfere with the impugned order. Hence the writ petition
will stand dismissed. No costs. Consequently connected miscellaneous petition stands closed.
30.01.2012.
In Elisamma v. The Corporation of Madras92, Inasmuch the Appellants/Workers have not
been provided with the work from 4.2.2000, the refusal of work by the 1st Respondent/
88

1966 Ker LJ 587

CM No. 48/2005 in WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO. 2211/1998
90
AIR 1983 SC 328
91
W.P.No.5715 of 2009; on 30 January, 2012
92
W.A.No.3560 of 2002; on 11 May, 2011
89

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Corporation of Madras to the Appellants/Petitioners is not a valid one in the eye of law and
accordingly, the Writ Appeal filed by the Appellants/Workers is allowed by this Court in the
interest of justice, by setting aside the order of the Learned Single Judge passed in
W.P.No.3206 of 2000 dated 28.3.2002 as well as the subsequent order dated 5.7.2002 passed
under the caption 'Being Spoken to'. Consequently, W.P.No.3206 of 2000 filed by the
Appellants/ Petitioners, in seeking a Writ of Mandamus to continue to employ them as
Sanitary Workers according to law, is allowed by this Court to prevent an aberration of
justice and to promote substantial cause of justice. There shall be no order as to costs.
Further, the 1st Respondent/Corporation of Madras is directed to provide employment to the
Appellants/Workers within a period of eight weeks from the date of receipt of copy of this
Judgment.
The definitions of employees and employer are quite wide. Person who engages workers
through another like a contractor would also be an employer93. It was held in Nathu Ram
Shukla v. State ofMadhya Pradesh94 that if minimum wages have not been fixed for any
branch of work of any scheduled employment, the person employing workers in such branch
is not an employer with the meaning of the Act. Similarly, in case of Loknath Nathu Lal v.
State of Madhya Pradesh95, an out-worker who prepared goods at his residence, and then
supplied them to his employer was held as employee for the purpose of this Act.

93

(1998 LLJ I Bom. 629)

A.I.R. 1960 M.P. 174
95
A.I.R. 1960 M.P. 181
94

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Recent Initiatives
Based on the recommendations of the Minimum Wages Advisory Board (MWAB) in its
meeting held on 22.01.2008 and 26.06.2008, the Ministry of Labour & Employment has
issued the Final Notification in the Gazette of India (Extra Ordinary) fixing the minimum
rates of wages for workers employed in the scheduled employments
Employment of Sweeping and Cleaning in the Central sphere at Rs.120/-, Rs. 150/- and
Rs.180/- per day and for Employment of Watch and Ward
a. without arms at Rs.120/-, Rs.150/- and Rs.180/- per day and
b. with arms at Rs.140/-, Rs.170/- and Rs.200/- per day for Area C, B and A
respectively
and the Final Notifications in respect of revision of minimum rates of wages for workers
engaged in the scheduled employments of Construction and Loading and Unloading in
the Central sphere at Rs.120/-, Rs.150/- and Rs.180/- per day for unskilled workers to
Rs.200/-, Rs.220/- and Rs.240/- per day for highly skilled workers in Area C,B and A
respectively and for workers engaged in Non-Coal Mines in the Central sphere at Rs.120/per day for unskilled Workers (Above Ground) to Rs.240/- per day for highly skilled workers
(Below Ground).

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Amendment in the Minimum Wages Act, 1948

There should be one single statutory National Floor Level Minimum Wage (NFLMW) for the
entire nation below which wages in any employment cannot be paid. A single wage rate by
its very simplicity will be easy to understand and implement. Standardization of minimum
wages under NFLMW should also reduce procedural complications in implementation of the
law and enhance compliance.
The Minimum Wages Act defines wages to include basic, DA and HRA. Some employers
split the consolidated wages announced by the Government into these heads so that they do
not have to pay PF etc on the full Minimum Wage announced by the Government. They also
then do not pay Gratuity on the HRA component. One of the following solutions can be
considered:

Wage in Minimum Wages Act to be defined as basic and DA only.

Section 20 to be amended to provide for the recovery of the amount determined by

the Authority, as arrears of land revenue as is done in Payment of Gratuity Act so that
the Authority does not have to file an application before the Court.

Section 22 B (a) Filing of claim application and its being upheld should not be a
condition precedent to the initiation of prosecution proceedings.

The Minimum Wages Act should also provide for Payment of Wages by remittance
in bank account of the employee.

Conclusion
To sum up, effective implementation of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, including that of the
revision of minimum wages at national floor level minimum wage or higher; which primarily
falls in the State sphere, is assiduously pursued by us through discussion, writing letters,
personal interaction and visits to States, including the North-Eastern States. The State
Governments are regularly asked to fix and revise minimum wages in scheduled
employments to be at least at par with National Floor Level Minimum Wage of Rs.80/- per
day as at present. What they actually do is in keeping with their respective paying capacity.

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Bibliography
1. Labour and Industrial Laws- S.N. Misra(25th edition) central law
publishing
2. An introduction to labour and industrial law- Avtar Singh (2nd edition)
Lexis Nexis Publication
3. A study of Industrial Law- G.M. Kothari (5th edition) lexis nexis
publication
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b42a0mwact.pdf
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