Minimum Wages Act Questions and Answers

Answer: A

Section 28 of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 deals with the power of the Central Government to give directions to a State Government as to the carrying into execution of the provisions of the Act in the State.

The Act has no section giving the State Government a power to give directions of this kind, and the powers of the Central and State Governments to make rules are found in other sections of the Act, not in Section 28. The keyed first option is therefore the heading of Section 28.

Answer: A

Both Conclusions I and II follow.

Section 5(2) of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 says that the notification fixing or revising minimum rates comes into force on the date it specifies, and that, unless the notification provides otherwise, it comes into force on the expiry of three months from the date of its issue.

Conclusion I is the first half of that rule and Conclusion II is the fallback in the second half, so each follows from the procedure the Statement describes. Options saying only one follows drop half of the same sub-section, and 'neither follows' ignores the provision altogether.

Answer: D

The key marks two schedules covering industrial establishments and agriculture.

The Minimum Wages Act has a Schedule of employments, whose Part I lists industrial employments such as stone breaking and road building, and whose Part II lists agricultural employments. The key treats these as two schedules covering industry and agriculture. The options that speak of shops and establishments do not describe the Schedule, and option A leaves out agriculture, so option D is the best match to the keyed answer.

Answer: D

Statutory minimum wages are fixed under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948. The Payment of Wages Act, 1936 regulates the time and mode of payment of wages and the deductions that may be made, the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 requires equal pay for equal work by men and women, and the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1923 provides compensation for injury at work. None of these three fixes minimum wages, so the answer is the Minimum Wages Act.

Answer: C

Under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 the appropriate government fixes minimum rates of wages for employees in the employments specified in Part I and Part II of the Schedule and in those added under section 27. Option A or B alone names only part of the Schedule, and option D does not describe how the Act's Schedule is divided, so the answer is C. The Schedule lists scheduled employments in two parts, and section 27 lets the government add other employments, which is why option C joins all three sources.

Answer: D

An officer not less than the rank of District Magistrate cannot be so appointed. Under section 20 of the Minimum Wages Act the appropriate government may appoint, by notification, the Commissioner for Workmen's Compensation, an officer of the Central Government exercising functions as a Labour Commissioner, any officer of the State Government not below the rank of Labour Commissioner, or another officer with experience as a judge of a civil court or as a stipendiary magistrate. District Magistrate rank is not among them.

Answer: A

The appropriate government is the Central Government. Under the Minimum Wages Act, the appropriate government for an employment on a railway administration, even for work done by a contractor, is the Central Government, and the construction of railway staff quarters falls in this class.

The State Government is the appropriate government for most other scheduled employments, but not here, and neither "both" nor "either" is allowed, since the Act names one authority.