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investigation of a very limited field. Their resources are seldom equal
bo extensive enquiries which demand machinery not usually at their
disposal, and the attempt to cover too wide a field has stultified
some of the efforts made by such investigators in the past. Examples
of the types of investigation which can suitably be undertaken by such
agencies are those relating to a small but clearly defined group of
workers, e.g., those employed in a small industrial establishment or forming
 a small section of a large one. For such groups, the analysis of their
income and expenditure, their families, their indebtedness and its causes,
their migrations, their absenteeism’ and its causes, their sickness, their
housing and the inter-relations of such factors offer an almost unlimited
variety of useful enquiries. The universities of India are mostly situated
in cities and towns of some industrial importance, and enquiries
of thiskind could be conducted by students of economics working
under the direction of the university staff and in co-operation with
labour office. The work, if properly dome, would form a valuable
addition to economic knowledge and would directly benefit the whole
community, which contributes much through taxation to university
funds. From the point of view of education, we believe that the
results would be equally valuable, for such enquiries would supply the
practical training whichis an indispensable adjunct to any course of study
related to present-day problems. We are aware that in some universities
work of this kind has been attempted, and recommend to university
authorities everywhere the examination of the possibility of making work
of this kind an obligatory part of courses in economics. We believe that
it could form a valuable part of the curriculum and that it would assist
in bringing the universities of the country in closer contact with industry,
an end which should be earnestly pursued.
Investigation by Employer.
For employers the opportunities are almost equally great, and
having regard to the very valuable service which certain types of investigations
 might yield to employers, we are surprised to find how few
have embarked on this field. Only one or two employers appear to
have made experiments in the matter of working hours, e.g., their
length and the distribution of intervals, and few could guarantee that the
arrangement of their hours, which too often depends on tradition, was
such as to secure the best results. It is quite certain, for example, that for
& number of years some branches of industry worked hours which, by
reason of their length, were definitely uneconomical, but it was left to
legislation to demonstrate the fact through the introduction of a
better standard. The whole subject of industrial fatigue, which is of
such importance to efficiency, has been almost ignored in India, and there
are countless directions in which experiments could be made by
employers with a view to discovering means of improving output and
efficiency. In an earlier chapter we have made proposals for systematic
research into such subjects, but we would also urge on the larger individual
 employers and on associations of employers the possibilities of
experimental work