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87. Article 43 of the Constitution outlines the State's commitment to improve the welfare and well-being of workers, both in agricultural and industrial sectors, and promote economic activities in rural areas, particularly through cottage industries. The State is obligated to work towards ensuring that all workers, regardless of whether they are engaged in agriculture, industry, or other occupations, receive a "living wage." i.e., a wage that is sufficient to cover the basic needs of a worker and their family, ensuring a decent standard of living. Hence, the Article 43 entitles the people of the nation to wage that not only covers their basic needs but also includes in its ambit the other needs of the people.

30. Article 43 of the Constitution10 obliges the state to ensure that all workers, industrial or otherwise, are provided with a living wage and assured of a decent standard of living. In this context, the need for providing a mechanism to neutralize price increase, through dearness allowance has been emphasized, in past decisions of this court. In Hindustan Lever Ltd. v. B.N. Dongre11, the court explained that if pay packets are "frozen", the purchasing power of the wage would shrink, and there would be a fall in real wages, which needs to be neutralized. The court also noted neutralization of wages, through dearness allowance is on a "sliding scale" with those at the lowest wage bracket, getting full neutralization and those in the highest rungs being given the least of such allowance: "Workers are therefore concerned with the purchasing power of the pay-packet they receive for their toil. If the rise in the pay-packet does not keep pace with the rise in prices of essentials the purchasing power of the pay- packet falls reducing the real wages leaving the workers and their families worse off. Therefore, if on account of inflation prices rise while the pay-packet remains frozen, real wages will fall sharply. This is what happens in periods of inflation. In order to prevent such a fall in real wages different methods are adopted to provide for the rise in prices. In the cost-of-living sliding scale systems the basic wages are automatically adjusted to price changes shown by the cost-of-living index. In this way the purchasing power of workers' wages is maintained to the extent possible and necessary. However, leap-frogging must be avoided. This Court in Clerks & Depot Cashiers of Calcutta Tramways Co. Ltd. v. Calcutta Tramways Co. Ltd. [AIR 1957 SC 78], held that while awarding dearness allowance cent per cent neutralisation of the price of cost of living should be avoided to check inflationary trends. That is why in Hindustan Times Ltd. v. Workmen [AIR 1963 SC 1332] Das Gupta, J. observed that the whole purpose of granting dearness allowance to workmen being to neutralise the portion of the increase in the cost of living, it should ordinarily be on a sliding scale and provide for an increase when the cost-of-living increases and a decrease when it falls. The same principle was reiterated in Bengal Chemical and Pharmaceutical Works Ltd. v. Workmen [AIR 1969 SC 360] and Shri Chalthan Vibhag Khand Udyog Sahakari Mandli Ltd. v. G.S. Barot, Member, Industrial Court, Gujarat [(1979) 4 SCC 622] and it was emphasised that normally full neutralisation is not given except to the lowest class of employees and that too on a sliding scale."