Government evades direct reply on non-revision of minimum wages since 2014-15
The question was posed by Congress president Kharge in the Rajya Sabha
The Centre evaded a direct reply to the question of non-revision of minimum wages for agriculture in several states since 2014-15.
The question was posed by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in the Rajya Sabha.
Asked whether minimum wages for agriculture in several states have been revised since 2014-15, Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Shobha Karandlaje said provisions of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, apply to workers in scheduled employments, including agriculture, under the respective jurisdiction of central and state governments.
Karandlaje told the Upper House of Parliament that provisions of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, have been subsumed under the Code on Wages 2019, which has been made effective from November 21, 2025.
The Code on Wages, 2019, was passed by the Parliament on August 8, 2019. It consolidates and simplifies four major labour laws—the Payment of Wages Act, 1936; Minimum Wages Act, 1948; Payment of Bonus Act, 1965; and Equal Remuneration Act, 1976. It expands the statutory right to minimum wages to all employees, covering both organised and unorganised sectors, ensuring fair pay and prohibiting gender-based discrimination.
“The Code of Wages, 2019, empowers both central and state governments to fix, review and revise the minimum rates of wages for the establishments falling within their respective jurisdiction,” Karandlaje said in her reply.
The MoS also said that reports under the Minimum Wage Act, 1948, up to years 2022 have been published, while the report for 2023 is under finalisation.
