In a developing economy like India, about 90 percent of the workers work in the informal sector, having no collective bargaining power. This makes it difficult to leave the wages to be determined entirely by the interplay of market forces and intervention on the part of the government becomes imminent. It is with this objective of protecting the vulnerable / less privileged / ignorant strata of the society from exploitation by the capitalist class that the Government of India enacted the Minimum Wages Act, 1948. The Act provides for fixation/ revision of minimum rates of wages in sweating employments by involving the authority of the state. The minimum rates of wages help in reducing the inequalities in the standard of living of different social groups of workers by statutorily prescribing minimum wage rates.

The Labour Bureau brings out an annual report on the working of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948. The present report pertains to the year 2003. It presents information on employments added, employments in which the Minimum Wages were fixed for the first time and the minimum wages in different scheduled employments prevalent during the year. Information contained in this volume is based on the annual reports received from the Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) as well as the authorities of the State Governments and Union Territories. The Labour Bureau, therefore, expresses its gratitude to all of them for their co-operation.

I would like to express my appreciation for the efforts put in by S/Shri Devinder Kumar, Senior Statistical Officer; V.I Sharma, Inv. Gr-II; S.P.Dhawan, Inv. Gr-II; Smt Bhupinder Kaur, Inv. Gr-II; Shri Charan Dass Computor and Shri Jagmal Singh, R.M.P.P. for bringing out this publication under the supervision and guidance of Sh. J.S. Bains, Assistant Director and Shri Ravi Datt, Director.

The views expressed, if any, are not necessarily those of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India. Suggestions for improvement are welcome.