HOUSING OF THE INDUSTRIAL WORKER, 291
into operation ; and, judging from the purposes for which they have been
used from time to time, there appears to be considerable uncertainty
as to the class of cases to which they should properly be applied. Several
applications from large industrial concerns in Bengal have been rejected
within recent years, because Government was advised that these did not
come under the definition laid down in Section 40 of the Land Acquisition
Act. In their report the Indian Industrial Commission recommended
that the local Government should acquire land compulsorily from pri-
vate persons on behalf of an industrial concern, if certain conditions were
satisfied. Discussing the question of industrial housing, the Commission
also recommended that Government should use its power to acquire land
on behalf of employers for the housing of labour subject to certain safe-
guards and that, at the cost of Government or the local authorities, land
might also be acquired and leased to employers at easy rates for the
same purpose. We consider that, where employers are willing to cons-
truct houses for employees, they should be assisted by Government to
acquire the necessary building land, provided that the schemes have
theapproval of the Ministry of Health. We therefore recommend that the
Land Acquisition Act be so amended as to provide that the housing of
labour shall be deemed to be a work likely to prove useful to the public
and that the definition of “ Company ” be so modified as to include in-
dustrial concerns owned by individuals or associations of individuals.
These modifications do not seem to us to involve any change in the
principles of the Act.
Cheaper Types of Houses.

Some of the type plans used by employers and others seemed
to us to be unnecessarily expensive and, as it is of first importance to
conserve financial resources, every effort should be made to evolve
cheaper types. Acceptable designs will naturally vary from place
to place according to the customs of the people, but experiments
with different plans and materials cannot fail to prove advantageous.
We have in mind the experiments carried out by the Empress Mills in
Nagpur under the supervision of their welfare officer. There it has been
demonstrated that two-roomed houses of suitable size, with adequate light
and ventilation, can be constructed at a cost of Rs. 350 per unit. The
development of schemes of these cheaper types would make the provi-
sion of decent workers’ houses a much less remote contingency than
it otherwise seems. In order to stimulate interest and to explore
the best types, Government might consider the possibility of offering
Prizes for plans and specifications of working class hoses. costing not
more than a fixed amount.
Co-operative Building Societies.
A housing society on co-operative lines is being started by the
Management of the Calico Mills in Ahmedabad, the workers’ share of
bhe cost being advanced by the Company. Generally speaking, however,
few attempts have been made to use co-operative building societies as a
Means to provide additional housing for the working classes. An