19 
41. The normal hours of work in the case of all the reporting mills in 
Ahmedabad were 10 for both male and female operatives and 5 for child- 
ren. Two mills did not employ children, but in certain mills which 
employed them it was reported that the children worked in two sets, 
sach set working for five hours. The normal hours of work were observed 
without variation by eleven mills. One mill reported a variation in the 
case of Coalmen and Oilers in the Engine Department, but the actual 
sours worked by them were not stated. Another mill reported that the 
Hand Folders in the Folding Department worked for only nine hours a 
day. A third mill stated that the normal hours of work were 93 per 
day for Carpenters and Mechanics and 8 for Folders and Bundlers. 
42. In Sholapur, both the mills selected for the Enquiry reported that 
the normal working hours were ten per day for men and women and five 
for children, who were employed in two batches. One of these mills 
reported that the normal working hours varied to 11 for the Engine 
Department and 9} for Mechanics, Fitters, Masons, Carpenters, Line 
Levellers, Roller Coverers and Reelers and also for all workers in the 
Mixing Department. 
INTERVALS 
43. Under the provisions of the Indian Factories Act, each person 
employed in a factory is entitled to a period of rest of not less than one 
hour for each period of six hours’ work done [section 21 (1) (a) (3)]. 
The rest interval may, at the request of the employees concerned, be so 
arranged that there will be a period of rest of not less than half an hour 
each for periods of work not exceeding five hours, the total duration of 
the periods of rest on any working day not being less than one hour for 
sach period of six hours’ work done [section 21 (1) (a) (#2)]. Each child 
working for more than 5} hours in any day is likewise entitled to a period 
of rest of not less than half an hour [section 21 (1) (b)], and this period 
requires to be so fixed that no such child shall be required to work con- 
tinuously for more than four hours [section 21 (2)]. These intervals are 
generally utilised by the workers for taking their midday meal although 
in a few cases it was reported that workers observed unauthorised 
intervals for meals. 
44. The present Enquiry showed that an allowance of an interval 
bo the operatives for the midday meal is a normal feature in all the mills 
selected for the Census. In Bombay City work usually starts at 7 a.m. 
and the one hour recess is generally granted between 12 noon and 1 p.m. 
There is practically no variation either in the duration or the starting 
time of the interval except in two mills. In one mill the one hour recess 
was shifted to 1 to 2 p.m. in the case of the Mechanics Shop. In another 
mill the interval wag longer and amounted to 1} hours from 12-15 p.m. 
to 1-30 p.m. for men in the Bleaching, Dyeing, Folding, Finishing, 
Bundling and Baling Departments, and for women in the Reeling, 
Winding, Bleaching, Dyeing, Folding and Finishing Departments, 
45. In the Ahmedabad mills the rest interval uniformly lasted for 
one hour from 12 noon to 1 p.m. except for Coalmen and Oilers alone in 
one mill where these operatives were required to work from 6-30 a.m. 
MO BR 36-—9a