Report of the Royal Commission on Labour in India

Bibliographic data

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

fy ~ CHAPTER XXV, should also have power to legislate. Labour legislation undertaken in the provinces should not be allowed to impair or infringe the legislation of the centre, or its administration. We recognise, as we have already stated, that the main lines of the future constitution in India must depend on considerations outside our scope and that these may be such as to render necessary the modification of our recommendation in favour of central legislation. All we cansay, therefore, is that the recommenda- tion is put forward with the conviction that the future of labour in the next generation is largely bound up with it and that, if political consi- erations stand in the way, the price to be paid will be heavy. Labour and the Franchise. The difficulty which confronted usin dealing with the constitu- tional responsibility for labour arises again in connection with the dis- cussion of the participation of organised labour in the legislatures. The question is of such cardinal importance for the welfare of labour that we cannot ignore it, bu it is intimately bound up with other questions which lie outside our province. We consider that we should best fulfil our duty and assist those who have to consider wider constitutional issues by limiting ourselves to a brief statement of what appear to us to be the just clajms of labour in this matter and of the advantages that will accrue from their recognition. Dealing first with the latter aspect of the ques- tion, we would observe that there are several directions in which the adequate representation of labour should benefit both itself and the community. In the first place, the presence of representatives able to voice the desires and aspirations of labour and to translate these into concrete proposals is essential for the proper consideration of measures specially affecting labour. But the welfare of labour does not depend purely on what may be called labour measures ; its good depends on the whole trend of policy and legislation. More adequate representation of labour is necessary for its protection in this respect and, if given the opportunity, organised labour can make a valuable contribution to the wise government of the commonwealth. Further, the proper repre- sentation of labour is itself educative ; the recognition of its claims as a part of the body politic will bring increased responsibility and a sense of unity with the community asa whole. Conversely, exclusion of labour from a fair share inthe councils of the nation will inevitably drive it fo rely unduly on other means of making itself felt, with injury to itself and to the nation. What we have stated is applicable to labour generally, both agricultural and industrial, and those who have to deal with the representation of labour in detail willno doubt have regard to the whole field. We, however, must confine our suggestions regard- ing representation to such labour as comes within our terms of re- ference. Labour Seats. The representation of industrial labour can be secured by either general or special electorates. We do not feel called upon to enter into a discussion of the merits of these two systems. They have been consi- dered by the Indian Statutory Commission, the Indian Central Committee

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