B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 6 Labour Law II 2024 Aug Question Paper with Solutions

For full marks, cover: the meaning of labour welfare (facilities and services, inside and outside the workplace, statutory and voluntary, for the worker's health, safety, comfort and family) and of labour welfare legislation; the constitutional provisions: the Preamble's social and economic justice; the Fundamental Rights (Articles 14, 16, 19(1)(c), 21, 23, 24); the Directive Principles (Articles 38, 39, 41, 42, 43, 43A, 47); the legislative power in List III (entries 22 to 24); the decided cases: Randhir Singh, Olga Tellis, PUDR, Bandhua Mukti Morcha, M.C. Mehta v. State of Tamil Nadu, Municipal Corporation of Delhi; a table; a conclusion.

What labour welfare means

Labour welfare means the facilities, services and amenities provided for workers. They let workers work in healthy, safe and decent conditions and live with dignity. It goes beyond wages. It covers the worker's health, safety, comfort and the well-being of his family.

Welfare may be grouped in two ways.

3. Article 21. The right to life includes the right to livelihood, health and dignity.
4. Article 23. It bans traffic in human beings, begar and other forced labour.
5. Article 24. No child below fourteen may be employed in a factory, mine or other hazardous employment.

Directive Principles for labour welfare

1. Article 38. A social order based on social, economic and political justice.
2. Article 39. An adequate livelihood (clause (a)) and equal pay for equal work for men and women (clause (d)). It also protects the health and strength of workers and of children (clauses (e) and (f)).
3. Article 41. Right to work, education and public assistance in unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement.
4. Article 42. Just and humane conditions of work and maternity relief.
5. Article 43. A living wage, decent conditions of work and a decent standard of life for all workers.

Olga Tellis v. Bombay Municipal Corporation, AIR 1986 SC 180. Pavement dwellers in Bombay faced eviction. The Supreme Court held that the right to life in Article 21 includes the right to livelihood. No one can live without the means of living.

People's Union for Democratic Rights v. Union of India, AIR 1982 SC 1473. Workers on the Asian Games sites were paid below the minimum wage, and children worked there. The Supreme Court held that work for less than the minimum wage is forced labour under Article 23. Employing children in construction violates Article 24.

Bandhua Mukti Morcha v. Union of India, AIR 1984 SC 802. Workers in the stone quarries of Faridabad were held in bondage. The Supreme Court held that the right to live with human dignity under Article 21 draws its life from the Directive Principles. It directed the release and rehabilitation of bonded labourers.

M.C. Mehta v. State of Tamil Nadu, (1996) 6 SCC 756. Children worked in the hazardous match and fireworks factories of Sivakasi. The Supreme Court gave effect to Articles 24 and 39 by ordering compensation into a rehabilitation fund.

Conclusion. Labour welfare means the facilities and services that let workers work and live in health, safety and dignity, and labour welfare legislation makes them compulsory. The Constitution supports it through the Preamble and the Fundamental Rights in Articles 14, 16, 19, 21, 23 and 24. The Directive Principles in Articles 38 to 43A and 47 add to them. The courts have read the Directive Principles into the Fundamental Rights, as Randhir Singh, PUDR and Bandhua Mukti Morcha show. So labour welfare is today a constitutional command, not a matter of charity.