Section 86 of the Factories Act 1948 - Power to Exempt Public Institutions
Section 86 empowered the State Government to grant conditional exemptions to certain workshops or workplaces attached to public institutions. The Factories Act, 1948 has since been repealed, so this provision is retained here for historical, transitional and legal-reference purposes.
What Section 86 provided
Section 86 dealt with workshops and workplaces where a manufacturing process was carried on and which were attached to public institutions maintained for education, training, research or reformation. It authorised the State Government to exempt such a workshop or workplace, subject to conditions considered necessary, from all or any provisions of the Factories Act, 1948.
Text of Section 86 - Power to Exempt Public Institutions
The State Government may exempt, subject to such conditions as it may consider necessary, any workshop or workplace where a manufacturing process is carried on and which is attached to a public institution maintained for the purposes of education, training, research or reformation, from all or any of the provisions of the Act.
The proviso restricted exemption from provisions relating to hours of work and holidays. For such an exemption, the persons controlling the institution had to submit a scheme for State Government approval regulating hours of employment, meal intervals and holidays for persons employed in or attending the institution or inmates of the institution. The State Government had to be satisfied that the scheme was not less favourable than the corresponding provisions of the Act.
Editorial note: the 1976 amendment substituted the words concerning "training, research" for the earlier reference to "training", with effect from 26 October 1976.
Meaning and scope of the provision
- Authority: the exemption power belonged to the State Government.
- Eligible premises: the provision concerned a workshop or workplace carrying on a manufacturing process and attached to a qualifying public institution.
- Institutional purpose: the public institution had to be maintained for education, training, research or reformation.
- Conditional power: an exemption could be made subject to conditions considered necessary by the State Government.
- Protection for working time and holidays: exemption in this area required an approved scheme whose terms were not less favourable than the corresponding statutory protections.
Effect of repeal under the OSHWC Code 2020
The present statutory framework is the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020. Its commencement notification made the Code effective from 21 November 2025. Section 143 expressly includes the Factories Act, 1948 among the enactments repealed on commencement.
Section 143 also contains savings provisions. In particular, actions taken under a repealed enactment, including rules, regulations, bye-laws, notifications, appointments, orders and directions, may continue under the corresponding provisions of the Code to the extent stated in Section 143 and so far as they are not contrary to the Code. The General Clauses Act, 1897 is also applied to the repeal by Section 143(4).
Why Section 86 may still matter
Although Section 86 is no longer an operative provision of a current Act, it can remain relevant when examining historical exemptions, earlier State Government notifications, orders made before repeal, accrued or pending legal issues, and the transitional effect of the savings clause. Any current compliance question should therefore be checked against the OSHWC Code, applicable rules and current Central or State notifications.