Report of the Royal Commission on Labour in India

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Monograph

Identifikator:: 1850495947

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-233603

Document type:: Monograph

Title:: Report of the Royal Commission on Labour in India

Place of publication:: London

Publisher:: His Majesty's Stationery Off.

Year of publication:: 1931

Scope:: xviii, 580 S.; graph. Darst., Kt.

Digitisation:: 2022

Collection:: Economics Books

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Document type:: Monograph

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: Chapter XXV. - Labour and the constitution

Collection:: Economics Books

156 CHAPTER XXV.—LABOUR AND THE CONSTITUTION. We deal in this chapter with the wider questions of the relations between labour and the constitution, and their effect on the welfare of labour. Present Constitution. The present constitutional position, so far as it affects labour and omitting unimportant refinements, may be briefly summarised. The various subjects of administration are divided into two main categories, central and provincial. For the former, the Central Government and the Central Legislature are responsible, and provincial Governments can only deal with them by delegation of the authority of the Central Govern- ment. The subjects in the latter category are primarily or exclusively the concern of the provincial Governments and legislatures. -Some of the subjects which relate to labour, or include labour within their scope, are central and others are provincial. Thus matters relating to labour in mines, on the railways, in all the chief ports and on sea-going ships come within the category of central subjects. On the other hand, matters relating to labour in factories, in plantations, in public works and on inland steam vessels come under provincial subjects. So far as more general questions are concerned, inter-provincial migration is a central subject, but the settlement of labour disputes and the welfare of labour, which is defined as “including provident funds, industrial insurance (general, health and accident) and housing ”, are provincial subjects. The Central Legislature, however, can legislate in respect of practically all labour subjects, while the provincial legislatures can legislate only in respect of those labour subjects classified as provincial, and then only with the sanction of the Governor General. Further the provincial labour subjects are, generally speaking, ““ reserved ”, i.e., they are in the port- folios of Members and not Ministers in the provinces, and the Government of India have full powers of “ superintendence, direction and control ” over the provincial Governments in such matters. In respect of those provinces which have no legislative councils, e.g., Delhi and Ajmer- Merwara, the Central Legislature can legislate on all subjects and the Central Government has effective authority over administration. Output of Legislation. In practice, the result has been that labour legislation has been virtually confined to the Central Legislature. Since the introduction of the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms it has passed a large number of mea- sures. These include the wholesale revision of the Factories Ach in 1922 with subsequent further amending Acts, the Mines Act of 1923 with the amending Act relating to shifts in 1928, the Workmen's Compensation Act of 1923 and minor amending Acts after that date, an Act repealing the Workmen's Breach of Contract Act and provisions of a similar kind in the Penal Code, the Trade Unions Act of 1926 and a minor amending Act, and the Trade Disputes Act of 1929. We have reviewed the items of this imposing list in preceding chapters and merely note that nearly the whole of the present labour code of India dates from 1922 or later.

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