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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Document type:: Monograph

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: Chapter XI. - Transport services and public works

Collection:: Economics Books

PUBLIC WORKS. 191 number employed was about 45,000, of whom not less than 2,000 were skilled workers. On the Roads and Buildings side the Government s also a very large employer of labour. Tt is responsible for the mainte- nance of all trunk roads and a great number of official buildings of all sizes. The biggest task undertaken in this connection in recent years has been the creation of the new capital at Delhi, which began before the war and is now practically completed. The numbers employed here fluctuat- 2d from 4,000 to over 20,000, the greater part of the labour employed being from Rajputana, Central India and the Bombay Presidency. Here, as in other constructional works, a number of women were employed and ~hild labour was not unknown. Employment of Contractors. To a large extent, the building and construction works under- baken by Government are entrusted to contractors, the Public Works Department exercising a general supervision over their execution. At Sukkur over 909%, of the workers employed on the Lloyd Barrage and Canals scheme are employed by contractors and in New Delhi the position was very similar. It is fairly generally assumed that, from the point of view of Government, employment through contractors is the only satis- ‘actory method. The objections urged against direct employment are the absence of adequate departmental arrangements for the control of sub- stantial labour forces, the additional cost and the difficulty that confronts aovernment in making advances, with their attendant risk of loss, to secure labour from a distance. So far as the control of labour is concerned, here is no technical difficulty in making departmental arrangements if necessary, but it would inevitably entail extra staff. With the passing »f the Workmen’s Breach of Contract Act, the power of contractors to retain unwilling labour has gone, and both Government and contractors must depend on making conditions attractive. As we show later, the lifficulty regarding advances can be surmounted. Thus the question of lepartmental employment, so far as Government are concerned, reduces itself to one of costs, and most engineers appear to be convinced that, so far as these are concerned, employment through contractors is distinctly advantaseons Fair Waceq. On this view we would remark that there is another question besides that of cost to he considered, and we think that this should receive morc attention. Weare far from satisfied that labour receives reasonable ireatment from all public works contractors. The Chief Engineer of the Lloyd Barrage and Canals Construction stated that conditions of labour would be decidedly improved if it were employed departmentally, and we helieve that, if contractors were in all cases required to give fair treatment n respect of wages, housing, sanitation and other services, there would be an enhancement in the cost of the work. This is an enhancement which, 1 necessary, Government must be prepared to face. So far as wages are *oncerned, no control is exercised at present, and the supervision of con- Tactors is limited to the settlement of disputes regarding payment. We

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