With reference to casual workers employed in India, consider the following statements: ​ 1. All casual workers are entitled for Employees Provident Fund coverage. ​ 2. All casual workers are entitled for regular working hours and overtime payment. ​ 3. The government can by a notification specify that an establishment or industry shall pay wages only through its bank account. ​ Which of the above statements are correct? ​

The correct answer is B. Statements 2 and 3 are correct, and statement 1 is not.

Statement 1 is wrong. EPF coverage under the EPF and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 depends on the establishment and the nature of the employment, not on whether a worker is labelled casual. Establishments with 20 or more employees are covered, but a casual worker is not automatically a member. The word all makes the statement too broad.

Statement 2 is correct. Casual workers are workers under the Factories Act, 1948 and the wage laws, so the limits on daily and weekly hours and the enhanced rate for overtime apply to them. Casual status does not remove these protections.

Statement 3 is correct. Section 6A of the Payment of Wages Act, 1936, inserted by the 2017 amendment, lets the government notify that wages in an establishment or industry be paid only through bank accounts. The same provision now sits within the Code on Wages, 2019, which has subsumed the 1936 Act.

This connects to the Mains theme of wage protection and social security for the informal workforce under the four labour codes.

Trap: Assuming every category of worker gets every social security benefit. Statement 1 is built to catch exactly this.