Report of the Royal Commission on Labour in India

Bibliographic data

Monograph

Identifikator:: 1850495947

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-233603

Document type:: Monograph

Title:: Report of the Royal Commission on Labour in India

Place of publication:: London

Publisher:: His Majesty's Stationery Off.

Year of publication:: 1931

Scope:: xviii, 580 S.; graph. Darst., Kt.

Digitisation:: 2022

Collection:: Economics Books

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Chapter

Document type:: Monograph

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: Chapter VIII. - Mines

Collection:: Economics Books

MINES. 1i9 afforded by the law, but in a service tenancy the rendering of service is a legal obligation in return for the holding of the land. An pnder- baking to render service in a mine as the condition of holding land 3, in general, an undesirable form of contract. We recognise a difference between lands away from the colliery and actual colliery lands, including those held to protect the owner from claims for damage arising from his underground operations. In regard to the first, we recommend that, for the future, the law should prohibit the creation of tenancies with colliery service as a condition of the holding. We recom- mend also that existing tenancies should be examined by Government bo see whether they can be converted to rent holdings with equity to all concerned. The position in respect of lands held for the purpose of working coal is different. In many cases the colliery owner must retain full control and cannot afford to lease it on terms which would give rise to permanent tenancy rights. The grant to miners of permission to cultivate it is usually in the interest of both parties, and there is no reason why such lands should not be held by colliery employees as an amenity or part remuneration of their service so long as they continue to be employed. The determination of the lands held for the purpose of working coal should be made by Government. Raising Contractors. The greater part of the output of coal is obtained by labour working under raising contractors. In the Jharia field these contractors are responsible for about 70 per cent and in the Raniganj field for about 10 per cent of the output. The raising contractor receives a fixed payment per ton, in return for which he recruits the workers, mines the coal and loads it into wagons. We have found it to be generally true that workmen employed by salaried managers, who are personally responsible for their workers, receive more consideration than those employed by contractors, and we do not think that the coal-mining industry forms an exception to thisrule. But there are reasons peculiar bo the coalfields which, in our view, render a system of employment through contractors, involving divided responsibility for labour, open to special objection. Both in law and in fact the manager is responsible for the safety of the workmen ; he determines where coal shall be worked and his decisions have the closest effect on the security of the miner. But even the safety men are not the manager’s subordinates, being selected and paid by the contractor. The law also holds the manager responsible for compliance with its provisions in respect of hours of work, holidays, the employment, of women, ete. As a rule he has also responsibility for housing and other matters (e.g., water supply) affecting the welfare of the worker outside the mine. Yet he has ordinarily no responsibility for the selection of the workers, the distribution of their work, the payment of their wages or even the numbers employed. We believe that, what- ever the merits of the system in primitive times, it is now desirable, if the management is to discharge completely the complex responsibilities laid upon it by the law and by equity, that the manager should have full control over the selection, hours of work and payment of the workers.

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