The mandatory five-year wage revision had not been fully implemented since 2007, affecting over 1 crore workers. The last effective, albeit partial, revision was in 2012.
Published Mar 17, 2025 | 8:00 AM ⚊ Updated Mar 17, 2025 | 8:00 AM
Minimum wage stuck in limbo as government delays revision
Synopsis: The Telangana High Court has ordered the state government to publish the long-delayed minimum wage revisions in the official gazette by 4 April, warning that failure to comply will require top officials to appear in court. The directive follows a 2023 order and a contempt petition filed by trade unions, highlighting the government’s repeated delays in implementing the legally mandated five-year wage revision, which has been stalled since 2007.
The Telangana High Court has directed the state government to publish the long-pending minimum wage revision in the official gazette within four weeks.
Failure to comply by the 4 April deadline will require the chief secretary and other officials to appear in court to explain the delay.
On 9 March, a two-member bench comprising ofActing Chief Justice Sujoy Pal and Justice NV Shravan Kumar, reiterated the court’s order 2023 order for the publication of minimum wage revisions. The court made it clear that further delays would not be tolerated.
The issue dates back to a 2023 public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the Telangana Regional Trade Union Council.
The petition highlighted that the mandatory five-year wage revision had not been fully implemented since 2007, affecting over 1 crore workers. The last effective, albeit partial, revision was in 2012.
In October 2023, the high court had already ordered the government to publish the report within six weeks. When this did not happen, petitioners filed a contempt petition.
The government then sought an extension, arguing for a fresh revision process instead of publishing the 2021 Government Orders (GOs). At the latest hearing, the court firmly instructed the Labour Department to publish the 2021 GOs by 4 April.
The Minimum Wages Act of 1948 mandates fair wages for workers in 73 scheduled employments, including biscuit baking, oil mills, woodworking, security services, and agriculture. While the act requires revisions every five years, Telangana’s wages have remained unchanged for well over a decade despite rising living costs.
Advocate Chikkudu Prabhakar, representing the trade union council, criticised the government’s inaction.
“The ones who need the revision the most are the 1.27 crore workers in Telangana. The last change was in 2012, and wages have stagnated ever since,” he told South First.
He pointed out that in 2021, the government issued five GOs revising wages for five employments. The Wage Board also approved 56 additional revisions, pending the Labour Commissioner’s approval. Twelve others were sent to the Governor for assent, but none were published in the gazette.
“In March 2023, we filed a PIL demanding the 2021 GOs be published. The court ordered the government to act within six weeks, but it failed. Instead, they sought permission to restart the wage determination process,” he explained.
“The new proposed wages are even lower than the existing ones, which violates natural justice. We have challenged this fresh revision in court. On 6 March, the court granted the government two weeks to respond, but they have yet to file a counter,” he added.
After the Congress’ victory in the 2023 Assembly elections, Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) leader Janak Prasad was appointed chairman of the Minimum Wages Advisory Board. He blamed the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government, for the 17-year delay.
“The last report was due in 2012. A committee was formed in 2013 and met in 2014, but the process stalled. [Former chief minister] K Chandrashekar Rao halted it for over a decade,” Prasad alleged.
He acknowledged that multiple government orders had been issued over the years, including a report in 2021, but none were published in the gazette. “Chief Minister Revanth Reddy appointed me to ensure this process is completed,” he said.
Prasad outlined efforts to finalise the minimum wage structure. “We have re-established a full-fledged committee and have met four times so far. We are working with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and studying wage structures across India. We are also analysing housing costs and commodity prices to determine fair wages,” he explained.
Despite the challenges, Prasad assured that the government would meet the deadline. “We will publish the report in the gazette by 4 April. However, we are requesting an additional one to two weeks to fine-tune details,” he stated.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
