| 82

CHAPTER XI,
becessary. With regard to the payment of wages on discharge, the
Indian Merchant Shipping Act provides a maximum period of five days
after discharge or three days after the cargo has been delivered, which-
ever first happens. We have been informed that seamen sometimes
leave for their villages before the expiry of this period and, in consequence,
the final payment is much delayed. The possibility of reducing this
period should be considered by Government. Stress was laid by the
union on the importance of signing on taking place in the Shipping
Office. We recommend that this matter also should be examined.
Seamen’s Welfare.

Finally, it is necessary to draw attention to the absence in ports
of welfare organisations which cater for the needs of Indian seamen. We
are glad to learn that in Bombay the foundation stone was recently laid
of a sailors’ home in memory of the Indian seamen who lost their lives
in the war. The need for such institutions is great, and we hope that the
example of Bombay will be followed by the other major ports of India.
We recommend that the matter should receive consideration and we
trust that it will be accorded the generous support of employers and the
public.
Inland Steam Navigation.

The important provinces for inland steamer traffic are Bengal,
Assam and Burma. Elsewhere the development of railways has greatly
reduced the volume of this traffic, and the only other province with steamer
services of any importance is Bihar and Orissa, Inland steam navigation
is now confined mainly to the Brahmaputra, the lower reaches of the
Ganges, the Irrawaddy and some of their tributaries and connected creeks
and canals. Almost the entire steamer traffic of Bengal and Assam
is in the hands of two important steamer companies, namely, the India
General Navigation and Railway Company, Limited, and the Rivers
Steam Navigation Company, Limited. Tt is estimated that the crews
engaged by these two Companies exceed 16,000 in number. In Burma
the bulk of the organised steamer traffic is in the hands of the Irrawaddy
Flotilla Company, which employs crews numbering about 4,500 and in
addition some 3,500 workers in its dockyard at Dalla. The higher as
well as the lower ratings of the inland steam vessels come from the same
area as seamen, namely, the Noakhali and Chittagong districts of Eastern
Bengal and the Sylhet district of Assam ; the majority, who come from
the vicinity of Chittagong, have shown through generations keenness and
aptitude for this kind of work.

Conditions of Employment.

The leading ratings employed on inland vessels are serangs and
drivers in charge of the deck crews and the engine room respectively.
As a rule they are engaged directly by the steamer companies and are
responsible for the navigation of the steamers on which they are employed,
but on the larger vessels in Burma they work under the commander
and the engineer by whom they are engaged. In accordance with the
provisions of the Inland Vessels Act these men are required to obtain