of a minimum wage and the decisions of the Supreme Court referred above do not mandate that the norms are to be applied rigidly in all cases, or that no departure therefrom can be made by the appropriate government. On the contrary, it is my view, that the appropriate government cannot lose sight of its constitutional obligations, while fixing the minimum wage for the workmen in any of the scheduled employments under the Minimum Wages Act, more so in view of the expanded meaning that has been given to the right to life under Article 21 of our Constitution, and the express provisions of Article 43 thereof, which states that “the State shall endeavour to secure, by suitable legislation or economic organization or in any other way, to all workers, agricultural, industrial or otherwise, work, as living wage, conditions of work ensuring a decent standard of life and full enjoyment of leisure and social and cultural opportunities”. The components that go into the fixation of a minimum wage must be determined, after taking note of those rights of the workmen, that are now viewed as fundamental, and breathing economic reality into them. If, in such an exercise, the appropriate government arrives at a figure that is slightly higher than what may be arrived at through a strict application of the recommended norms, this court would not, for obvious reasons, interfere with the minimum wage fixed by the
