Lok Sabha Question No. 5742 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-04-02
Subject: Violation of Minimum Wages Act
Ministry: LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
Asked by: SANJAY SHAMRAO DHOTRE, BHARTRUHARI MAHTAB, RAHUL RAMESH SHEWALE

## MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5742 TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.04.2018

## VIOLATION OF MINIMUM WAGES ACT

5742. SHRI SANJAY DHOTRE:

SHRI BHARTRUHARI MAHTAB:

SHRI RAHUL SHEWALE:

Will the Minister of LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT be pleased to state:

- (a)whether cases of violation of Minimum Wages Act, 1948 have been reported/come  to  the  notice  of  the  Government  during  each  of  the  last three years and the current year;
- (b)if  so,  the  details  thereof  along  with  the  details  of  violators/defaulters reported in this regard and the reasons therefor;
- (c)the  number  of  employers  against  whom  penal  action  has  been  invoked under the said Act during the said period, State/ UT-wise;
- (d)the  number  of  times  minimum  wages  have  been  revised  during  the  said
- period;
- (e)the mechanism available with the Government to ensure minimum wages to workers/labourers and its timely revision by the Employers; and
- Government  for  effective
- (f)the other steps taken/being taken  by the implementation of the said Act across the country?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE (IC) FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SHRI SANTOSH KUMAR GANGWAR)

(a) to (f): The Minimum Wages Act, 1948 is implemented by the Centre as well as the States in respect of their respective jurisdiction. In the Central Sphere, the enforcement is secured through the Inspecting Officers of the Chief  Labour  Commissioner  (Central)  commonly  designated  as  Central Industrial Relations Machinery (CIRM) whereas 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 against the defaulting employers are invoked.

Contd..2/-

No centralized data is maintained on the enforcement of the Act in  the  State  Sphere.  However,  the  data  of  inspections,  amount  of  claims, action taken against defaulting employer under the Minimum Wage Act, 1948 in the Central Sphere for the last three years is at Annexure 'A'.

The Basic rate of minimum wages for the scheduled employments  in  the  Central  sphere  was  last  revised  and  notified  on 19.01.2017. A  component  of  minimum  rates  of  wage,  Variable  Dearness Allowance (V.D.A.), was last revised on 01.10.2017.

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Annexure 'A'

Annexure in reply to part (a) to (f) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 5742 for 02.04.2018

Claims cases under Minimum Wages Act, 1948

| Year                    | Claims   | Claims   | Claims   | Amount   | Amount    | Amount          |
|-------------------------|----------|----------|----------|----------|-----------|-----------------|
| Year                    | B/F      | Filed    | Decided  | Awarded  | Recovered | Paid to Workers |
| 2015-16                 | 3672     | 743      | 1796     | 66654417 | 44128036  | 34879425        |
| 2016-17                 | 2610     | 1198     | 1138     | 96684922 | 49485990  | 48540964        |
| 2017-18 (upto Dec,2017) | 2617     | 1050     | 819      | 95757253 | 20697840  | 24866702        |

Minimum Wages Act, 1948

|   Sl. No. | Particulars                     |   2015-16 |   2016-17 |   2017 -18 (upto Dec., 2017) |
|-----------|---------------------------------|-----------|-----------|------------------------------|
|         1 | No. of Inspections Conducted    |      9803 |      9151 |                         7380 |
|         2 | No. of Irregularities Detected  |     75938 |     61689 |                        62304 |
|         3 | No. of Irregularities Rectified |     46467 |     53255 |                        28884 |
|         4 | No. of Prosecutions Launched    |      1549 |      2321 |                         1130 |
|         5 | No. of Convictions              |      1476 |      1951 |                         1721 |

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