112 CHAPTER VIII.

safety. Oilfields both in India and Burma are given complete exemption
 from the operation of the Mines Act, which would otherwise apply to
them. In Burma there is an Oilfields Act which is directed to the preservation
 of the oil sands and includes provisions for the prevention of fire,
but is not designed for the protection of labodr. We are of opinion that
the protection of the law in regard to rest days, hours, health and safety
should be extended to workers on the oilfields. We also think that labour
statistics analogous to those for factories and mines should be compiled
and published. We therefore recommend that conditions on the oilfields
be examined by Government with a view to determining whether the end
can be achieved by modifying the present exemption and applying appropriate
 provisions of the Mines Act, or whether separate legislation should
be passed for the regulation of hours, rest days, safety and health on oilfields.
 Whichever course may prove more suitable, some form of inspection
 will be necessary, In India, excluding Burma, the mines inspectors
should be able to make the necessary Inspections : in Burma the inspection
 of the oilfields, combined with the inspection of mines in the province,
 will require the appointment of a separate mspector.

Other Mines.
The quarrying of stone, including slate and limestone, and the
extraction of iron ore employ a large number of workers. The former
industry is widely distributed over India and Burma and employs 28,000
persons in those quarries which come under the Mines Act; quarries less
than 20 feet deep and in which less than 50 persons are employed are
exempted from the operation of the Act. Slate is quarried mainly in the
Monghyr district of Bihar. Limestone comes principally from the
Punjab, the Central Provinces, Bihar and Sind. Other kinds of stone are
worked In all parts of India, though none of the excavations for stone in the
Madras Presidency has been reported as coming under the Act. The
work in stone quarries is largely in the hands of contractors; little machinery
 is used and, since in almost all cases the workers come from surrounding
 villages, no special arrangements are made for housing, sanitation and
health. The majority of the quarries are in scattered localities difficult of
access and frequent inspection has not been found possible. There were
11 fatal accidents in stone quarries and 4 in limestone quarries during 1929.
In iron ore mines, which are all open workings, some 8,000 persons are
employed, including 2,700 women. Except for one mine in Burma, the
production is almost all in the hands of three large firms who quarry ore in
the Singbhum district of Bibar and Orissa. The majority of the workers
are recruited in the district and many attend their work daily from their
villages. It is reported that some housing is provided at the mines, and
that hospitals and medical officers are maintained, while two out of the
three large concerns have piped water supplies.
The Coalfields.

Coal is worked in Assam, Baluchistan, Bengal, Bihar and Orissa,
the Central Provinces and the Punjab; but the great bulk of the
collieries of India are concentrated in a comparatively small area. the