Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1992, published 79th ILC session (1992)

For a number of years, the Committee has drawn attention to the need to better enforce the provisions of the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976, as there would appear to exist numerous cases in which women receive lower wages than men for equal work or for work of equal value. It has also observed that the scope of the principle of equality of remuneration under the above Act is more limited than the principle of the Convention, as it covers only men and women performing the same work or work of a similar nature for the same employer.

In its observation of 1991, the Committee noted with interest that the Equal Remuneration Act had been amended to widen the scope of the protection against discrimination, to provide for substantially increased penalties for offences under the Act, and to empower the courts to try such offences upon its own knowledge or upon a complaint made by the appropriate government or authorised officer, an aggrieved person or any recognised welfare institution or organisation. It also noted a substantial increase in the number of prosecutions launched under the Act in the central sphere, measures to strengthen the activities of the labour inspectorate, and information and comments concerning the situation in various sectors of employment and in various States. It also noted the Government's statement to the effect that it may not be possible to introduce the concept of equal pay for work of equal value at the present stage of development, as this is an advanced concept, and that priority should be given to the full implementation of the Equal Remuneration Act.

The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government and the discussions which took place at the Conference Committee in 1991. It also notes the comments made by the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) in a communication of May 1991, which was transmitted to the Government for its observations.

The Committee notes that the Government did not supply a report; neither did it send observations in reply to the communication of the CITU.

In its communication, the CITU states that despite the passing of the Equal Remuneration Act in 1976, there remain many shortcomings and loopholes. It reiterates its previous comments concerning the lack of serious efforts on the part of the Government and the enforcement authorities to implement the Act; states that in certain industries, employers use a piece-rate system to avoid equal wages for women workers or that they claim that the work performed by women is of a different nature to the work performed by men, while in fact the nature of work for men and women is the same or is similar, which explains why women workers in beedi, construction, garment, agriculture and other industries continue to get lower wages than male workers; points out that the powers under the Equal Remuneration Act to grant exemptions are grossly misused and that air hostesses in certain airlines and professional workers are excluded from the clause relating to equal remuneration; and refers to efforts made by the trade unions to raise consciousness among working women and men, and to similar efforts made by the central Government which, in its view, need to be followed up for more effective results to be achieved.

The Committee hopes that the Government will supply a full report for examination at its next session and that this report will provide information in relation to the points raised in the communication of the CITU and in reply to the Committee's following comments:

1. Recalling the statement made in the Government's last report to the effect that priority should be given to the full implementation of the Equal Remuneration Act, as amended, the Committee wishes to point to the importance of correcting as soon as possible the most serious cases of non-compliance with the principle of equal pay embodied in the above-mentioned Act.

The Committee has noted the information supplied at the Conference Committee concerning the application of the Act in various industries in a number of States. It has also noted the concern expressed by the CITU that in order to avoid paying women equal rates to those of men, employers use a piece-rate system or claim that women are undertaking different, less arduous work, and that in a number of industries women receive lower wages than men, in violation of the Act.

In this connection, the Committee has had the opportunity to refer to a series of studies undertaken by the Labour Bureau (Ministry of Labour, Government of India) on the socio-economic conditions of women workers in various industries. The study concerning the building and construction industry (released April 1989) revealed that the "daily wages of most of the unskilled female construction workers in Bombay, Madras and Calcutta cities were much less that those fixed under the Minimum Wages Act ... In some cases, women workers' daily wages were even less than the half or 60 per cent of the minimum wages ... Employers of as many as nine of the 14 construction projects studied in Bombay and nine of the 13 projects studied in Madras were violating the provisions of the Equal Remuneration Act, as in these cases the daily wages of unskilled women were much less than those of their male counterparts ... Employers were circumventing the Act by saying that the jobs performed by men were tougher than those done by the corresponding women workers, whereas the study revealed that in most cases there was no difference between the jobs performed by unskilled men and women workers" (paragraphs 15 and 16).

The study of women workers in handloom units in Panipat (Haryana) (released in 1989) stated that women workers were not only regarded as secondary to male workers but they were also not considered even as "employees" by some employers. Another difficulty in the implementation of the Minimum Wages Act was that while almost all the handloom workers were employed on piece rates, the wages under the Act had been fixed on time. It was concluded that in view of the large number of handloom workers employed in the State and their peculiar working conditions, there was a need to have the industry as a separate scheduled employment under the Minimum Wages Act and for the minimum wages to be fixed on a piece-work basis.

Similar situations were found in the 1988 study covering the "raw leaf tobacco, zarda and cigarettes, brick kilns, tiles, stone dressing and crushing, electric and miniature lamps, radio and television sets and fountain and ball pens industries", which revealed that, in stone factories, women workers engaged as mazdoor, stone carriers and coolies were invariably receiving wages that were 6 per cent to 60 per cent less than their male counterparts, and that although "the work performed by women seemed to be harder than that of men, yet the employers were paying lesser wages to women workers" (paragraph 3.2.2); and in the 1988 study covering the "tea-processing, coffee-curing, paper and paper board, match splints and veneers and bobbins, rubber and plastic products, chinaware and porcelainware, electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, electronic goods and components", where it was found in particular that in some tea factories located in Assam and northwest Bengal, the daily-rated women workers were receiving lower wages than the corresponding male workers, and women engaged in stalk picking were not found to have been shown in the factory's records and were thus debarred from benefits like bonus, provident fund, etc.

The Committee notes that according to the written information supplied by the state governments at the Conference Committee, in practically all the States the same rates of wages were fixed for men and women workers, and women did receive the minimum wages prescribed and/or the same wages as men and if they did not, it was due to the fact that they perform different, less arduous or less difficult work than men, and there were no or very few complaints in this regard. In her oral statement, the representative of the Government made reference to some cases in which differential wage rates had been detected in tea gardens in Assam.

The Committee draws attention to the apparent discrepancy between the information supplied at the Conference Committee and the findings of the above-mentioned studies, which appear to be consistent with the comments received over the years from workers' organisations and those made over the years by the Committee. While the Committee is aware of the efforts made by the Government to improve the implementation of the equal pay legislation, it hopes that the Government will indicate the measures taken or envisaged to draw the attention of the competent state authorities to situations such as those revealed in these studies, in order to correct them in accordance with the requirements of the national legislation and of the Convention.

2. As concerns measures to better publicise the provisions of the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976, as amended in 1987, the Committee has noted with interest the information supplied at the Conference Committee on the various training programmes conducted in 1990 by the tripartite Central Board for Workers' Education in order to increase women's awareness of their rights and responsibilities; the financial assistance accorded by the Women's Unit of the Ministry of Labour to non-governmental organisations for programmes designed to stimulate awareness about women's rights and to organise women in the informal sector; the Government's intention to conduct a regular training programme for labour inspectors and the four social welfare organisations recognised for the purpose of filing complaints under the equal pay legislation; and the consideration given to the establishment of a national commission for women, whose role would include examining the application of constitutional and legal provisions, proposing amendments to those texts and examining complaints regarding their non-implementation.

The Committee hopes that the Government will continue and expand these various promotional and training programmes and that it will encourage state governments to develop similar programmes. It requests the Government to provide full information concerning this important aspect in its next report.

3. The Committee has also noted with interest that the centrally sponsored scheme to create the post of Labour Inspector with supporting staff to enforce exclusively legislation relating to women and children is fully functional on a pilot basis in Madhya Pradesh; and that it was proposed to continue the scheme and extend it to other States in the next five-year plan. It requests the Government to provide details on the extension of the pilot scheme and on the activities under these schemes in its next report. Noting the comment made by the CITU in this respect, the Committee also requests the Government to consider how it might involve the trade unions in this and in other projects to implement equal pay.

4. The Committee also notes the statistics provided by the Government concerning the number of inspections carried out at the state level under the minimum wage and equal pay legislation, the irregularities noted and the action taken to bring about compliance. The Committee hopes that the Government will continue its efforts, in collaboration with the state governments, to reinforce the activities of the labour inspectorate in the field of the Convention and that it will supply full information in this regard, including details of the sanctions imposed on the basis of the amended Act.

5. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the cases in which, pursuant to section 12 of the Equal Remuneration Act, as amended in 1987, courts have tried offences punishable under the Act under their own authority or upon a complaint made by any welfare institution or organisation recognised by the central or the state governments. Noting from the information supplied by the Government at the Conference Committee that only four welfare organisations have been recognised for the purpose of filing complaints under the Act, the Committee hopes that the central and state governments will be able to extend recognition to a greater number of organisations, in view of the very important role that they can play in promoting better observance of the relevant legislation.

6. The Committee is raising other points in a direct request.