The Union Government has re-constituted the Central Advisory Board on Minimum Wages under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, by appointing a Hyderabad-based ‘professional’ B. Janardhan Reddy as its Chairperson.
It is a crucial appointment, particularly after the Supreme Court in the last week of October gave a ruling that brought relief to lakhs of contract employees working in government departments and agencies.
A bench headed by Justice J. S. Khehar based its judgment on the principle of ‘equal pay for equal work’. The rule, it said, constituted a clear and unambiguous right vested in every employee — whether engaged on regular or temporary basis. The principle has been underscored in various judgments delivered by the SC and was law of the land, it said.
The employees moved the SC after the Punjab and Haryana High Court denied them the pay-scale given to a permanent employee. The Board’s job involves advising the Central and State Governments in the matters of fixation and revision of minimum rates of wages and other matters under this Act and for co-coordinating the work of the advisory boards.
The Central Advisory Board consists of persons to be nominated by the Central Government representing employers and employees in the scheduled employments who shall be equal in number and independent persons not exceeding one-third of its total number of members. It is against this backdrop that the choice of the Modi Government in going for a professional from Hyderabad is curious.
There is no clarity from the November 18 notification by the Ministry of Labour on how exactly the newly constituted Minimum Wages Board has to go about its job after the recent apex court verdict.
