HC to govt: wages, not excuses
Telangana High Court on 4 August told the state to put full facts on record on delayed minimum-wage revision for 73 employments, and listed it for 20 August. What happened on 20 August isn’t on the record yet — and until it is, the noise stays noise.
The court sought the facts behind minimum-wage revision for 73 scheduled employments.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G. M. Mohiuddin on 4 August gave the state one last chance to file a detailed affidavit on minimum-wage revision, in petitions flagging that workers across 73 scheduled employments were denied revised rates under law. The court asked for notifications, records and a clear explanation of whether Variable Dearness Allowance covered the ground that a formal revision should have. It listed the matter for 20 August. (According to the published accounts of the 4 August hearing, the court signalled no more extensions; we have not located the exact text of that direction in the official orders.)
The record underneath this is not flattering to anyone who treats wage floors as optional. The High Court’s proceedings in W.P. (PIL) No. 14 of 2023 note the core grievance in one line: workers in 73 employments were not granted revised minimum rates as required by the Minimum Wages Act, 1948. A later order in October 2023 told the state to revise and Gazette the wages within six weeks — in accordance with the Act. Then the framework changed: on 19 June 2026, the court, noting the shift to the Code on Wages from 21 November 2025, restored the writ to be decided under the new Code and closed contempt linked to the old regime.
The government, for its part, notified basic minimum wages via G.O.Ms.No.6 on 30 May 2026 with effect from 1 June 2026 — unskilled monthly basics of ₹14,000–₹16,000 by zone, higher for skilled categories — and made the rates expressly subject to the outcome of the pending cases. That is an on-paper step; whether employers are paying these basics plus VDA is exactly the kind of fact the court asked the state to substantiate.
Two things not to pretend to know: what the Bench did on 20 August, and whether the state filed the full affidavit it was told to. No August 20 order or hearing record was available in the consulted material. Until the file says otherwise, the confirmed status is the 4 August direction and the long paper trail before it. The BJP-led Centre’s wages ‘reform’ may have changed the label on the law, but it did not make paycheques optional. And the Congress, which now runs Telangana, still has to show the court the maths rather than more dates.