2 PILs FILED FOR MINIMUM WAGES ACT

Two separate PILs have been moved before the Hyderabad High Court seeking to direct the State Governments of AP and Telangana to implement the Minimum Wages Acts in both states.

Telangana Regional Trade Union Council represented by its Secretary Mr. P Jeevan Rao and AP State Multiple Contractors Labour Union represented by its Secretary Mr M. Srinivasa Rao moved the PILs.

Mr Srinivasa Rao told the court that the minimum wages were revised in the erstwhile AP in 2005 and the Supreme Court also found fault with the state governments’ attitude in revising the minimum wages in the states. He reminded that this High Court had found fault with the method adopted by the state government in fixing the minimum wages.

He said that workers have been chasing the officials concerned for years together for revision of the wages. Mr. Jeevan Rao brought to the notice of the court that the Minimum Wages Act was brought into force in 1948 and as per the Act, wages have to be revised at least once in every five years. The erstwhile AP government has issued GOs in 1975 and 1995 to revise the wages in every two years but those GOs are not implemented. He submitted that the Telangana government in 2014 constituted the advisory board. The term of the board expired in 2016 and later another board was constituted in 2016 and both the boards have submitted 43 proposals to the state government which were not implemented.