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CHAPTER XVI.
working of the Act has been greatly facilitated by the stress which
it lays on lump-sum payments. The question “of administration
is one to which great importance must be attached, particularly if a large
number of fresh workmen are to be brought within the scope of the Act.
Quite apart from the administrative difficulty and expense of trans-
ferring a series of small sums from irdustrial areas to distant villages,
often in different provinces, the recipients of such sums would prob-
ably be subjected in many cases to serious insonvenience, if not harass-
ment, while there is a distinct danger that the sums might not reach
them without some deduction. Both from the point of view of those
entitled to compensation and of the administration, we consider that it
would be unwise to alter the existing system. There isno great objec-
tion to giving Commissioners the same powers of investment, ete., of
money due to men os they at present possess in the case of women and
children, but such a change is certainly not desired by workmen. and we
do not recommend it.
Dependants.

Another unusual feature of the Act is the method of payment
for fatal accidents to adults. A list of dependants is given, but the
amount of compensation is independent of both the number of depen-
dants and the degree of their dependence. If any relative named in
the list of dependants is found, the whole of the compensation must be
disbursed, even though no surviving relative was actually dependent.
The Commissioner has the sole responsibility of deciding which of the
dependants should receive compensation and how the compensation
should be divided among them. These arbitrary provisions naturally
produce anomalies in some cases; it has happened that substantial
sums were given to persons who were not dependent on the deceased.
But this is rare ; the great majority of adult Indian workmen leave
widows and other close relations : and the absence of any requirement
of proof of dependence is ordinarily a great boon to those who have the
best title to compensation. Various modifications in the present system
are possible and we have received a number of su ggestions, but we agree
with the view of the Commissioner for Workmen’s Compensation, Bengal,
that the choice lies between the maintenance of the present system and a
complete change to a system such as that of the British Act, which makes
compensation vary with the degree of dependence and the number of
dependants and requires proof of dependence. Fach system has obvious
advantages ; but we are of opinion that for India a continuance of the
system at present in force is, for some time at any rate, much the wiser
course. The only change we suggest is the addition of widowed sisters
and widowed daughters to the list of relatives ranking as ““ dependants ”.

Minimum and Maximum Scales.

In respect of the actual scales, we are of opinion that a subs-
tantial enhancement is desirable, in the case both of the more poorly
paid workmen and of those in receipt of high wages. The present
minimum is so low as to be practically inoperative. for the adult