WORKING CONDITIONS IN FACTORIES, 
37 
Temperatures. 
In nearly every part of India there are long periods when the 
climatic conditions render physical toil particularly difficult and un- 
pleasant. This is especially true of factory work. In many factories the 
temperature Win the hot weather is higher than that of the air outside, 
and the air movement is less ; In a number of factories the difference is 
marked. A large number, probably the majority, of factory owners 
make no endeavour to mitigate the discomfort, to use a mild word, 
which the hot weather brings to their operatives. Some factories, in- 
deed, suggest that they might have been constructed by cold weather 
visitors, for they show little respect for the sun in their orientation and 
elevation. Apart from the regulations relating to humidification and 
cooling power in cotton textile mills, there is no official control of tem- 
peratures, nor is any such control possible under the present law. Recent 
experience has indicated that the reduction of excessive temperatures, 
or the minimising of their effect, is in many cases easier than is generally 
supposed. Mr T. Maloney in his official report on Humidification in 
Indian Cotton Mills pointed out in 1923 that appreciable reductions 
could be effected by comparatively inexpensive means, and suggested 
that reductions would prove profitable to the industry as well as advan- 
tageous to the operatives. The white-washing of roofs, the spraying 
of roofs with water, and the provision of electric fans, or even small devices 
attached to the shaft, can often be made without undue expense. Some 
employers have found that these methods have brought a reward not 
merely in the greater contentment of the operatives, but in improved 
attention to work and increased production. We consider that there 
is room for much more work in this direction and recommend to em- 
ployers a study of what has been done already. We do not, of course, 
suggest that improvements of this character should be regarded solely 
in the light of their financial results ; in many cases the operatives have 
a right to demand that the present conditions should not continue. even 
if imorovements are not likely to be remunerative, 
Official Proposals. 
It is desirable that, where employers are unwilling to do so of 
their own accord, there should be power to insist on reasonable measures 
being taken to reduce excessive temperatures. This has been generally 
recognised for some time past, but the proposals made by Government 
have failed to secure approval. In a Bill introduced in 1925 to amend 
the Factories Act, the Government of India proposed to follow the prin- 
ciple of the British Factories and Workshops Act, and to lay down that 
a “ reasonable ” temperature must be maintained in all factories. Ins- 
pectors were to be empowered to specify the measures necessary to reduce 
the temperature to reasonable limits and to enforce the adoption of these 
methods. This proposal was rejected during the passage of the Bill 
through the Legislative Assembly ; and it seems to us to be open to eri- 
bicism on the ground that the expense of reducing temperature to a 
standard which might be regarded as reasonable for manual work micht