HEALTH AND WELFARE. 
245 
quantities of green vegetables but these supplies are seldom adequate. The 
result is a lack of stamina and a lowered resisting power to disease which 
are apparent not only amongst the rice-eating races but even in those 
whose staple food is wheat. The effect is severely to handicap the 
agricultural emigrant in making the many adjustments required of him 
when he migrates to the industrial field. 
Adjustments Necessary. 
The new conditions of life are very different from those to which 
he has been accustomed. On arrival, he usually finds accommodation 
with some relative or friend living in an already overcrowded room in a 
congested area. On obtaining work he is compelled to change his usual 
meal hours, although he adheres to his custom of taking two meals a day. 
His first repast is usually taken before he goes to work, but as the early 
start gives little time for cooking, this generally consists of- cold food pre- 
pared the previous night. The interval between the morning and afternoon 
spells of work is much shorter than in the village and is used pri- 
marily for rest, although on occasion he postpones his first meal to this 
period. At other times some light refreshment like parched gram is 
taken. The evening meal is usually the main one of the day.» Moreover, 
the worker’s diet is unsatisfactory from many standpoints ; milk is more 
difficult to procure than in his village, pure ghi is unobtainable, whilst 
vegetables or fruit, even if available, are often beyond his means. Usually 
the work is indoors ; this, coupled in many cases with unaccustomed con- 
centration for long hours on new work, involves a strain not always appre- 
ciated. Finally there is the matter of housing, with which we deal in a 
separate chapter. The generous contributions made by a number of 
employers towards the provision of houses represent a substantial attempt 
to improve conditions. Apart from these, housing is of the meanest des- 
cription, and the indifference of the worker to the dangers of overcrowding, 
and lack of light, ventilation and sanitation enhance its detrimental 
effect. Moreover, shortage of houses, absence of adequate transport and 
the natural reluctance of the worker to live anywhere but in close proximi- 
ty to his work add to the overcrowding and compel him to submit to exor- 
bitant rent charges. The industrial recruit is thus handicapped from the 
start, 
Lack of Family Life. 
} Another factor which must be takeninto account when dealing 
with the health of the worker and the difficulties of adjustment which 
confront him when he leaves agriculture for industry is the disturbance 
to family life. In his own village, the balance of the sexes is for the most 
Part normal. When he comes into industry, it is usual for him to leave 
hig family at home. If he has a plot of land, his wife and family must be 
left behind to till and reap. Inaddition the housing facilities are ordinari- 
ly such that he has little prospect of obtaining suitable family quarters. 
Too often all that is available is a share of a room, where he keeps his small 
box. The number of such boxes is generally a sure indication of the 
number of tenants in the room, shewing only too clearly that the