CHAPTER IVs

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period within which factories may employ women, and to reduce from
131 to 13 hours the period within which they may employ any individual
woman. In this connection we have considered the objections, which are
felt strongly by many in India, to women working in or travelling to and
from the factory after dark. We believe that many women will be unwilling
to accept work involving late hours or a very early start, and we do not
anticipate that this relaxation will have any effect on the hours in fac-
tories which work without shifts. At the same time, we regard it as
desirable to remove an obstacle in the way of the more general adoption
of shifts and the employment of women who may be willing to work on
these shifts. We may add that, if adopted, our proposals will bring the
Indian law into strict conformity with the Convention relating to night
work for women, to which we have referred. In the case of children, we
recommend that the spreadover be limited to 73 hours, and consider
that the night rest should continue to include the hours between 7 P.M.
and B-30 A.M.

Multiple Shifts in Jute NMills.
Another question, to which great attention has been directed

in Bengal in connection with the jute mills, is the control of shifts. Prior
to 1922, textile factories could not work for more than 12 hours in all
except under a system of shifts approved by an inspector. In 1922 all
restrictions on the running hours of machinery were abolished, and with
these went all power to prevent the working of shifts. The Government
of Bengal now desire power to control the working of shifts with a view
to the prevention or modification of a system which has been extensively
used in jute mills. The practices to which the Government of Bengal
and others have directed our attention require explanation. The Bengal
jute mills are divided into “ single-shift ’ and * double-shift ” mills. ~All
the mills open at 5-30 A.M. and close at 7 P.M, and in the former class of
mills there is an interval of 23 hours during which no work is done. Here
the only defect is the inadequate night period, with which we have already
dealt. In the © double-shift ”” mills, the machinery runs for the whole
131 hours and work is conducted on a system of overlapping multiple
shifts. This is best understood by reference to the appended diagram,
which shows the shifts and the hours during which they worked in a typical
mill. The essence of the system is that the workers in each department
are divided into a number of groups enjoying intervals at different times,
so that the machinery runs continuously for 13% hours with constant
changes in the groups at work. It will be observed that, in the case
illustrated by the diagram, the intervals are so arranged that at 22 different
times in the course of the day, some workers are due to come in and relieve
others who go out.
Objections to Multiple Shifts.
There are several objections to such a system from the point of
view of labour. In the first place, the intervals bear no necessary relation
ro mes] times and. where different members of a family work in different