Title: The Freedom to Work: PUDR vs. Union of India and the Meaning of 'Forced Labour' Under the Indian Constitution
Abstract: Article 23(1) of the Indian Constitution prohibits "traffic in human beings and begar and other similar forms of forced labour." With begar – a system of inter-generational bonded labour unique to India – at its heart, Article 23 may, at first glance, seem only a narrow protection from debt slavery and its variants. However, in PUDR vs Union of India, the Supreme Court held that the right against forced labour included the right to a minimum wage. Remarkably, the Court framed this not as a positive right or as a socio-economic guarantee that it was importing from the Directive Principles, but in the pure language of freedom: freedom from economic compulsions that drove workers to accept employment at wages even lower than the minimum rates.
Publication Year: 2017
Publication Date: 2017-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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