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

Usage license:: Get license information via the feedback formular.

Chapter

Document type:: Monograph

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: Chapter IX. - Railways

Collection:: Economics Books

140 CHAPTER IX, railway colonies, have a special claim to enter the service, and we therefore recommend that, wherever possible, facilities for suitable education and training be afforded them. Elsewhere the question of education of workers and their children is dealt with ; but, in view of the policy formulated by the Railway Board as the result of the recent enquiry by an officer of the Indian Educational Service, our opinion is that existing facilities should be continued until such time as suitable alternative provision is. made. Mechanical Workshops. The other important class of railway servants to be considered is that engaged in large workshops, usually locomotive, carriage and wagon shops, where labour is recruited as and when required. The supply of unskilled labour is plentiful, and the general prac- tice is for candidates to be appointed by works managers on the recommendation. of foremen. It appears that, as a rule, semi-skilled men are recruited by promotion after acquiring some skill and experience in the unskilled ranks, and some ultimately develop into skilled workers earning promotion according to merit. Other skilled labour is obtained from outside applicants trained in particular trades and, to a small but increasing extent, from apprentices drawn from literate or semi-literate classes and trained in the shops for periods of from four to six years. Un- like the maintenance staff and those grades who perform their duties along the lines under conditions that make the adoption of new methods of recruitment difficult, if not impracticable, large bodies of workshop employees are concentrated in particular centres and live and work ander conditions that lend themselves readily to improved systems of recruitment and appointment. Already the recruitment of labourers and artisans in some of the mechanical shops is arranged by labour bureaux. These, with the assistance of the works managers and foremen concerned, select men who, after suitable tests under the supervision of employment officers or assistant employment officers, are rated according to ability by these officers and appointed accordingly. We believe that this system could be developed and, together with the system of selection boards or committees already mentioned, would enable almost all the employees in the larger work- shops and many of the lower paid workers at large stations to be recruited, appointed and promoted in a manner that would go a long way towards removing grounds for complaints of favouritism and bribery. These principles, if more widely applied, should prove of the greatest value, not only to the workers in the lower grades, but also to the supervising and other staffs against whom complaints are made. It is naturally difficult to obtain direct evidence from either givers or takers of bribes, but there is a widespread belief that employment and promotion can be materially assisted by methods which ought not to be possible in highly organised services. The elimination of bribery depends most upon the spread of knowledge and the development of character. Its complete elimination. therefore.

Access restriction

Copyright

fullscreen: Report of the Royal Commission on Labour in India

Monograph

Chapter

Table of contents

Download

Monograph

Chapter

This page

Image fragment

Citation links

Citation recommendation