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

1. All casual workers are entitled for Employees Provident Fund coverage. — Correct. A casual worker who is employed in an EPF-covered establishment is treated as an employee for EPF purposes; the law does not exclude a worker merely because the employment is casual.

2. All casual workers are entitled for regular working hours and overtime payment. — Correct. Casual status does not take a worker outside basic labour protections relating to hours of work and overtime where the relevant labour law applies.

3. The government can by a notification specify that an establishment or industry shall pay wages only through its bank account. — Correct. Under the Payment of Wages framework, the appropriate government may require specified establishments/classes of establishments to pay wages by cheque or by crediting wages into bank accounts.

Therefore, all three statements are correct. My earlier error was treating Statement 1 as requiring universal EPF coverage irrespective of whether the establishment is covered; UPSC appears to test whether casual workers are eligible employees under covered establishments, not whether every casual worker in India is automatically covered.