Page 274 - DMGT516_LABOUR_LEGISLATIONS

Unit 11: Minimum Wages Act, 1948

practicable. In 1938, the Central legislative Assembly adopted a resolution urging the payment Notes
of sufficient wages and fair treatment for workers in industries protected and subsidised by the
government. Subsequent labour enquiry committees, appointed by the Bihar, Bombay and UP
governments, recommended suitable minimum wage fixing machinery; but no action was
taken on the basis of these recommendations, except in UP where basic minimum wages were
fixed for workers in textile and electricity undertakings. The sharp rise in prices in 1943 and the
constant erosion of real wages compelled the Government to consider the matter at the 3rd and
4th meetings of the Standing Labour Committee in 1943 and 1944. The Indian Labour Conference
at its 5th session approved, in principle, the enactment of minimum wage legislation. A draft
Bill was prepared and considered at its 6th and 7th sessions, and at a special sub-committee
meeting in 1946. The Bill was introduced in the Central Assembly and it became an Act in March
1948.

11.3 Minimum Wages Act, 1948: Its Objectives

Object of the Act

The object of the Act is to promote the welfare of workers by fixing minimum rates of wages in
certain industries where labour is not organised and sweated labour is most prevalent. The Act
seeks to prevent exploitation of workers by ensuring that they are paid the minimum wages,
which would provide for their subsistence and preserve their efficiency.
When the constitutionality of this Act was challenged in 1955, in the case of Bejoy Cotton Mills
vs. State of Ajmer before the Supreme Court, the Court rejected the contention and upheld the
constitutionality of the Act, observing that securing of living wage to workers, which ensures
not only bare subsistence but also maintenance of health and decency, is conducive to general
interest of the public, and it is also in conformity with the Directive Principles of State Policy
embodied in Article 43 of the Constitution.

Scope and Coverage of the Act

The Act applies to the whole of India. Initially, it applied to agricultural employment and 12
other employments as mentioned in the Schedule to the Act (reproduced below). The appropriate
Government is empowered to extend this Act to any other employment in respect of which it is
of the opinion that minimum rates of wages should be fixed under the Act. State Governments
have used this power to bring within the purview of the Act not just a few other employments,
with the result that now the Act covers more than three hundred employments.

Definitions (Interpretation)

Appropriate Government (Sec. 2 (b))

The appropriate government in relation to any scheduled employment carried on by or under
the authority of the Central Government, or a railway administration, or in relation to a mine,
oilfield, or major port, or any corporation established by a Central Act means the Central
Government (Sec. 2 (b)(ii)).
In relation to any other Scheduled employment, the appropriate government means the State
Government. (Sec. 2(b) (ii)).

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