UP Police Can't Pay Less Than MGNREGA: Allahabad HC Orders Minimum Wages for Station Sweepers

The Allahabad High Court recently directed the Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police, the Superintendent of Police, Lalitpur, and the Station House Officers of Police Stations Madanpur and Barrar Narahat to pay two part-time sweepers minimum wages as prescribed under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, along with arrears from the date of their engagement.

The bench of Justice JJ Munir held that the statutory wage notifications override the State Government’s 2019 executive order that provides an honorarium of Rs 1200 per month for sweepers working in police establishments. 

A writ petition was filed by two Safaikarmis, Gobinddas and Kaushla, who have been working for the police establishment in Lalitpur since July 2022. They told the court that they discharge sweeping and cleaning duties at the two police stations for nearly eight to nine hours every day in two shifts, but are paid only Rs 1200 per month. They said they received no appointment letters despite regular work, though Station House Officers of both stations had issued certificates acknowledging their services.

Their grievance was that the payment made to them is lower than even what an MGNREGA worker earns, and far below the minimum wages notified for unskilled workers by the State. They had submitted representations to the Superintendent of Police in January and May 2023, and later to the District Magistrate, the local MLA, and even the Chief Minister, but no decision was taken.

The Superintendent of Police contested the claim and asserted that the petitioners were only “part-time sweepers” who work for an hour to an hour and a half daily.

The State submitted that the honorarium is fixed in accordance with a March 9, 2019 Government Order, and argued that these workers, being neither regular employees nor engaged through an outsourcing agency, are not entitled to minimum wages under the Act.

Faced with conflicting claims about the nature and duration of work, court appointed the Civil Judge (Senior Division), Lalitpur, as Commissioner to inspect the two police stations. The Commissioner was asked to record statements of petitioners, police personnel and local residents, and to examine the upkeep and condition of the premises.

The Commissioner’s report noted that local residents supported the petitioners’ assertion of full-day work, while police personnel claimed the sweepers worked for only about an hour and a half. He also observed that the level of cleanliness in the station premises made it improbable that such upkeep could be maintained with only one to one-and-a-half hours of daily sweeping, especially as police stations are public places with continuous footfall. At the same time, he found that no attendance or work-hour register was maintained for sweepers.

After reviewing the report and submissions, court held that while the record did not conclusively establish full-time engagement, the petitioners’ status as part-time workers did not deprive them of statutory protection.

It rejected the Superintendent of Police’s legal argument that the Minimum Wages Act did not apply, calling the reasoning “absolutely flawed".

Court noted that sweeping and cleaning constitute a scheduled employment under the Act since 2005 and that the statutory minimum wage notifications apply to all persons hired by the State for such work, whether full-time or part-time.

Court recorded that the minimum daily wage for unskilled workers has ranged from Rs 374.73 in 2022 to Rs 422.85 in 2025, with hourly wages calculated at one-sixth of the daily rate. Since these rates flow from statutory notifications, they override the 2019 executive order relied on by the police establishment, court held. 

Allowing the petition in part, court issued a mandamus directing the DGP, the SP Lalitpur and the Station House Officers concerned to ensure payment of statutory minimum wages to the petitioners, along with arrears from the date of engagement within six weeks, and to pay current wages strictly in accordance with the Minimum Wages Act.

Case Title: Gobinddas and another vs State of UP and Others

Order Date: November 15, 2025

Bench: Justice JJ Munir