Minimum Wages for various employment roles

The Minimum Wages Act, 1948

In a labour surplus country like India, it is difficult to have a uniform and comprehensive wage policy for all sectors of the economy. Wages in the organized sector are generally determined through negotiations and settlements between the employer and the employees. In the unorganized sector, however, labour is vulnerable to exploitation due to illiteracy and lack of effective bargaining power.

The Minimum Wages Act,1948, safeguards the interests of the workers as they are vulnerable to exploitation due to illiteracy and lack of bargaining power and binds the employers to pay the minimum wages to the workers as fixed under the statute for the work performed during a given period, which cannot be reduced by collective agreement or an individual contract. The provisions of the Act are gender neutral and thus do not discriminate between male and female workers. Under the Minimum Wages Act,1948 (the Act) both the Central and the State Governments are“ Appropriate Governments” for fixation/revision of minimum rates of wages for the scheduled employments at an interval not exceeding five years. There are 45 scheduled employments in the Central sphere while in the State sphere the number (cumulative) of such employments is 1709. The Central Government has notified increase in the basic rate of minimum wages for all sectors in the Central sphere w.e.f. 19.01.2017.

The minimum rates of wages also include Special Allowance i.e. Variable Dearness Allowance (VDA) linked to Consumer Price Index Number, which is revised twice a year effective from1 April and1 October. The Central Government and 27 States/UTs have adopted VDA as a component of minimum wage. Both the Central and the State Governments have been revising the minimum wages in respect of scheduled employments from time to time.

Minimum wages

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 Central Government has notified the revision of minimum wages for the scheduled employments in the Central sphere on 19.01.2017. There has also been a revision in the Variable Dearness Allowance (VDA) w.e.f 1.10.2023. The revised minimum wages for scheduled employment under the Central sphere w.e.f. are shown in the table below:-

(Wages in Rs. per day) w .e f. 01.10.2023

* Per 2.831 cubic meters or 100 cubic feet

** Per truck load of 5.662 cubic meters or 200 cubic feet

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