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 XI. - Transport services and public works

Collection:: Economics Books

| 82 CHAPTER XI, becessary. With regard to the payment of wages on discharge, the Indian Merchant Shipping Act provides a maximum period of five days after discharge or three days after the cargo has been delivered, which- ever first happens. We have been informed that seamen sometimes leave for their villages before the expiry of this period and, in consequence, the final payment is much delayed. The possibility of reducing this period should be considered by Government. Stress was laid by the union on the importance of signing on taking place in the Shipping Office. We recommend that this matter also should be examined. Seamen’s Welfare. Finally, it is necessary to draw attention to the absence in ports of welfare organisations which cater for the needs of Indian seamen. We are glad to learn that in Bombay the foundation stone was recently laid of a sailors’ home in memory of the Indian seamen who lost their lives in the war. The need for such institutions is great, and we hope that the example of Bombay will be followed by the other major ports of India. We recommend that the matter should receive consideration and we trust that it will be accorded the generous support of employers and the public. Inland Steam Navigation. The important provinces for inland steamer traffic are Bengal, Assam and Burma. Elsewhere the development of railways has greatly reduced the volume of this traffic, and the only other province with steamer services of any importance is Bihar and Orissa, Inland steam navigation is now confined mainly to the Brahmaputra, the lower reaches of the Ganges, the Irrawaddy and some of their tributaries and connected creeks and canals. Almost the entire steamer traffic of Bengal and Assam is in the hands of two important steamer companies, namely, the India General Navigation and Railway Company, Limited, and the Rivers Steam Navigation Company, Limited. Tt is estimated that the crews engaged by these two Companies exceed 16,000 in number. In Burma the bulk of the organised steamer traffic is in the hands of the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company, which employs crews numbering about 4,500 and in addition some 3,500 workers in its dockyard at Dalla. The higher as well as the lower ratings of the inland steam vessels come from the same area as seamen, namely, the Noakhali and Chittagong districts of Eastern Bengal and the Sylhet district of Assam ; the majority, who come from the vicinity of Chittagong, have shown through generations keenness and aptitude for this kind of work. Conditions of Employment. The leading ratings employed on inland vessels are serangs and drivers in charge of the deck crews and the engine room respectively. As a rule they are engaged directly by the steamer companies and are responsible for the navigation of the steamers on which they are employed, but on the larger vessels in Burma they work under the commander and the engineer by whom they are engaged. In accordance with the provisions of the Inland Vessels Act these men are required to obtain

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