INDEBTEDNESS.

237

Monthly payment is practically universal on the railways and in most
other forms of transport, it is general in cotton textile mills except in
Ahmedabad and Cawnpore, and is common in engineering and metal
factories. The most important exceptions to the practice of monthly
payment, so far as factories are concerned, are the jute mills, in which the
operatives are paid weekly, the Ahmedabad cotton mills which pay ap-
proximately fortnightly, most of the leading Cawnpore mills which
pay fortnightly, and the bulk of seasonal factories. Monthly payment
is rare in the mining industries; the Raniganj coalfield pays wages
daily and the great majority of mines elsewhere pay weekly. Casual
labour naturally tends to be paid daily and unskilled labour in unorganis-
ed industry, if not employed by contractors, is often so paid.
Delays in Payment.
With the prevalence of long periods of payment there is a ten-
dency to allow a comparatively long time to elapse between the end of
the period in respect of which a wage has been earned and its actual
payment. Where wages are paid monthly, it is the exception for the
worker to receive his wages at any time in the week following the end
of the month. Ten to fifteen days usually elapse before he gets his
money, and it is not infrequent for the delay to exceed 15 days.
With shorter periods of payment than the month, there is generally
less delay. Fortnightly wages are seldom retained for more than 10
days and are frequently paid in from 3 to 5 days. Weekly wages
are hardly ever withheld for more than a week and may be paid very
promptly, while daily wages are usually paid on the day on which
they are earned.
Weekly Payments Bill.
The only attempt so far to deal with these questions by legislation
was made in 1925 when a private Bill was introduced in the Legislative
Assembly with the intention of enforcing the general adoption of weekly
payments to employees. The measure was circulated for opinions
and those received were almost unanimously unfavourable to it. It was
opposed generally by employers and the provincial Governments. It
was asserted with some confidence in many quarters that the workers
were opposed to the reduction of the period. On the second reading
In 1926, the Government of India opposed the measure, and made it
clear that in their view the aim should be to reduce the delays which
took place in the payment of wages and not to reduce the period of pay-
ment. On an assurance being given by Government that this latter
Question would be investigated, the Bill was withdrawn by its sponsor.
Delayed Payment and Debt.

} In the discussion of both these questions, stress was laid on
bheir bearing on indebtedness. While we recognise the injustice of
withholding wages for longer than is necessary to ensure their calcula-
tion, we do not believe that the existence of a fairly long waiting period