ROYAL COMMISSION ON LABOUR IN INDIA. 
REPORT. 
To 
Tae KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY. 
May it please Your Majesty, 
We, the Commissioners appointed to enquire into and report on 
the existing conditions of labour in industrial undertakings and plantations 
in British India, on the health, efficiency and standard of living of the 
workers, and on the relations between employers and employed, and to 
make recommendations ; humbly submit to Your Majesty the follow- 
ing Report. 
Our Report is signed by all of us with the exception of Sir Ibrahim 
Rahimtoola who was elected President of the Legislative Assembly 
on the 17th of January 1931. From that date he was unable to take 
further part in our proceedings and for this reason he does not sign 
the Report. We are grateful to him for the help which he gave until 
he was called to other duties. 
CHAPTER I.-INTRODUCTION. 
Tours. 
After our appointment, we prepared a list of subjects on which 
we particularly desired information, and afranged for its despatch, with 
a short covering letter, to those bodies and individuals who appeared 
likely to be in a position to provide information of value, inviting them 
to send memoranda. The letter and the list will be found in an Appendix 
to this Report. Thereafter we assembled at Bombay on 11th October 
1929, and began our public sessions at Karachi four days later. Between 
that date and 22nd March 1930, the Commission was continuously on 
bour and visited all the eight major provinces of British India (exclud- 
ing Burma), and Delhi, Ajmer-Merwara and Coorg. During the course 
of this tour we held 107 public sessions at 37 different places, which 
included all the leading industrial centres in India proper. We met 
again in London on 3rd June 1930, and between that date and 13th 
August 1930 we held there 24 sessions for recording evidence and for the 
consideration of the material then in our hands. Thereafter we left 
England for Burma, spending on the way 4 days in Ceylon for the pur- 
Pose of gaining certain information relating to conditions in plantations 
In that island. We reached Burma on 19th October 1930 and, after 
8 tour there, ‘sailed for India on 11th November 1930. We met again 
in Delhi for the preparation of this Report. Prefaced to it is a sketch 
map of our tours, which extended to 16,000 miles, exclusive of the 
journeys between London and Bombay and Colombo. In the course