Article 42 — Bare Text

Explanation — Two Limbs

Article 42 read with its neighbours

• Article 39(e) — health and strength of workers not to be abused; no one forced by economic necessity into unsuitable avocations.
• Article 41 — public assistance in sickness and disablement.
• Article 43 — living wage and conditions of work ensuring a decent standard of life.
• Article 43A — participation of workers in management of industries, inserted by the 42nd Amendment, 1976.
• Article 47 — duty to raise the level of nutrition and public health.
• Together these form the labour welfare cluster of Part IV, and the Supreme Court has repeatedly read them into Article 21.

Amendment to Article 42

Judicial Interpretation

The participation of women in the workforce is not a matter of privilege but a constitutional entitlement, and the right of every woman to make reproductive choices without undue interference from the State is central to the idea of human dignity. — The reasoning in K. Umadevi v. Government of Tamil Nadu (2025), paraphrased

The Statutory Framework — Working Conditions

The four Labour Codes, in force from 21 November 2025

The most significant labour reform since independence. 29 central labour laws have been consolidated into four Codes, brought into force on 21 November 2025, though Central and State rules are still being notified.

Key worker-protection changes under the Codes

• Mandatory appointment letters for all workers — a direct formalisation measure.
• Statutory minimum wage for all workers, and timely payment of wages.
• Free annual health check-up for all workers above 40 years of age.
• Social security coverage extended to gig and platform workers, with aggregator contributions.
• Women permitted to work at night and in all types of establishments, subject to their consent and prescribed safety measures — an equality gain rather than a protection removed.
• Official estimates cited by the Ministry place social security coverage at more than 64% of the workforce in 2025, against about 19% in 2015.

Other statutes on working conditions

• Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 — the POSH Act, codifying Vishaka. Internal Committees mandatory in establishments with 10 or more employees; Local Committees at district level for the unorganised sector.
• Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 — reasonable accommodation and accessible workplaces.
• Employees' Compensation Act, 1923 — compensation for injury and occupational disease, now within the Social Security Code.

The Statutory Framework — Maternity Relief

Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, as amended in 2017

The Act applies to establishments with 10 or more employees. India's 26-week entitlement is among the more generous statutory provisions globally, well above the ILO Maternity Protection Convention, 2000 (No. 183) minimum of 14 weeks — though India has not ratified that Convention. The Act now sits within the Code on Social Security, 2020.

Government Schemes Implementing Article 42

Implementation Data

Persistent Challenges

• The informality gap. The Maternity Benefit Act applies only to establishments with 10 or more employees; the overwhelming majority of India's women workers are outside it, reliant on PMMVY's far smaller cash transfer.
• Hiring disincentive. Because the employer bears the full cost of 26 weeks' paid leave, studies have flagged a risk of reduced hiring of women of childbearing age — an argument for a shared maternity fund or social-insurance model, as several countries operate.
• No statutory paternity or parental leave in the private sector, which leaves the entire care burden — and the career cost — on women.
• Crèche compliance is weak, and the 50-employee threshold excludes most workplaces.
• Occupational health data. India lacks comprehensive reporting of occupational diseases and workplace fatalities, especially in construction, mining and informal manufacturing.
• Inspection capacity. The shift towards self-certification and randomised inspection improves ease of doing business but depends on enforcement capacity that has not grown proportionately.
• Rules still pending. The Labour Codes are in force, but Central and State rules are still being notified — so much of the practical effect is yet to be seen.
• POSH implementation in the unorganised sector remains thin, with Local Committees not constituted or non-functional in many districts.

Article 42 at a Glance — Mind Map

Prelims Traps to Guard Against

• Article 42 has never been amended. The 42nd Amendment, 1976 inserted Article 43A, a different provision.
• Article 42 covers both working conditions and maternity relief — not maternity alone.
• Article 15(3) is enabling ("may"); Article 42 is directive ("shall").
• Maternity leave is 26 weeks for the first two children, and 12 weeks for the third onwards — the 2017 Amendment did not make it 26 weeks universally.
• Adopting and commissioning mothers get 12 weeks, not 26.
• The crèche threshold is 50 employees; the Maternity Benefit Act itself applies at 10 or more employees.
• The four Labour Codes came into force on 21 November 2025, replacing 29 central labour laws. The OSH Code alone consolidates 13.
• The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 has been subsumed into the Code on Social Security, 2020, not the OSH Code.
• The Code on Wages, 2019 received assent in August 2019; the other three in September 2020.
• MCD v. Female Workers (Muster Roll) (2000) extended maternity benefit to casual workers, relying on Article 42 with the UDHR and CEDAW.
• K. Umadevi (2025) held maternity leave to be a facet of reproductive rights under Article 21 — decided 23 May 2025 by Justices Oka and Bhuyan.

Mains Angle

Question (GS-II, 15 marks, 250 words): "Article 42's promise of just and humane conditions of work has been rewritten by the Labour Codes; its promise of maternity relief has been rewritten by the courts." Examine.

Structure the answer around three pivots:

1. The constitutional mandate.
   Two limbs — just and humane conditions of work and maternity relief. "Just" speaks to fairness of terms, "humane" to the dignity of the worker.
   Non-justiciable under Article 37, but made effective by being read into Article 21 with Articles 39(e), 41 and 43 — Bandhua Mukti Morcha (1984), CERC (1995).
   Note the contrast with Article 15(3): enabling versus directive.
2. The legislative rewriting of the first limb.
   Four Labour Codes in force from 21 November 2025, consolidating 29 central laws; the OSH Code alone amalgamates 13.
   Gains: mandatory appointment letters, statutory minimum wage, free annual health check-up above 40, social security for gig and platform workers, night work permitted for women with consent and safeguards; coverage reportedly up from 19% to 64% since 2015.
   Concerns: dilution of job security and bargaining rights under the IR Code, and rules still pending.
3. The judicial rewriting of the second limb.
   MCD v. Female Workers (2000) — benefit extends to casual and muster-roll workers, citing Article 42 with UDHR and CEDAW.
   Deepika Singh (2022) — purposive reading for atypical families.
   K. Umadevi (2025) — maternity leave is a facet of reproductive rights under Article 21; two-child norms must be harmonised, not applied mechanically.

Conclusion: the constitutional standard has risen faster than coverage. The unfinished agenda is to close the informality gap — most women workers remain outside the Maternity Benefit Act — and to move maternity cost from the individual employer to a shared social-insurance pool, so that Article 42's protection does not itself become a barrier to hiring women.