Report of the Royal Commission on Labour in India

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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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Document type:: Monograph

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: Chapter IX. - Railways

Collection:: Economics Books

136 CHAPTER IX.—RAILWAYS. In this and the following chapter we deal with questions affecting labour on railways. During the three quarters of a century of their existence, service conditions have been created which now constitute tumerous and varied problems requiring special attention. In this chapter are indicated the extent of the railway systems and the nature of the administrations responsible for their working. We describe the methods of recruitment of workers and recommend more extensive use of employment officers and selection committees with a view to the elimination of complaints regarding appointments and promotions. We deal with the lack of uniformity in holiday and leave rules and goon to discuss in some detail questions of wages, including methods of pay- ment, standardisation, provident funds and deductions from earnings. In the following chapter we refer to hours of employment and to the desirability of giving fuller effect to the provisions of the ratified conventions relating to hours of work and rest periods. Suggestions are made for dealing with appeals against disciplinary actions with a View to removing grievances about insecurity of service, and then pro- posals for improved methods of regulating the relations between admin- istrations and workers are discussed at some length. We make recom- mendations for setting up joint standing machinery, including Loeal and Divisional Committees, Railway Councils, a Central Board and finally a Tribunal to which reference may ultimately be made in the event of preceding negotiations not resulting in a settlement. The chapter ends with a reference to health and welfare activities and to other matters which are dealt with in greater detail elsewhere in our Revort. Railway Svstems Railways in India cover a wide expanse, the total route mileage of 41,000 miles being in excess of that in any other country save the United States of America. With a total staff of over 800,000, the rail- way administrations are the largest employers of organised labour in India, and their working policy as regards wages and other terms of employment reacts to some extent on industrial labour conditions through- out the country. The earliest railways in India were short lines con- structed in the vicinity of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras between the years 1853 and 1856 by companies incorporated in England. It was not long, however, before the Government of India definitely adopted the policy of direct construction and ownership, and although a system of construction and management by the agency of companies continued, there has been a gradual change-over, until now 72 per cent of the total route mileage is owned and 45 per cent is directly managed by the State. Forstatistical purposes, Indian Railway systems are divided into three classes, namely, Class I, where the gross earnings of the system reach Rs. 50 lakhs in a year; Class II, where they are less than that amount and more than Rs. 10 lakhs, and Class III, where thev are not

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