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 XIII. - Indebtedness

Collection:: Economics Books

INDEBTEDNESS, 997 in particular, the strikes of 1928 and 1929 appear to have enhanced substantially the extent of indebtedness. But the single large loan which plays an important part in binding permanent fetters on the worker is usually required in connection with a marriage. It is not uncommon for a worker to spend on a marriage the equivalent of a year’s wages and to borrow the whole of that sum at a high rate of interest. As our proposals, if they are effective, will prevent expendi- ture on this scale for most workers, we wish to make it clear that we are far from desiring to make marriage difficult, or to prevent the worker from celebrating such events in a fitting manner. But he is too often coerced into what may be his own enslavement for years by social pressure, and we believe that if expenditure on a scale entirely beyond his means could be made impossible there would be a great addition to happiness and prosperity, without anv check to marriage. Special Position of Industrial Worker. Indebtedness is by no means confined to the industrial worker ; it isin fact fairly general throughout India and we recognise that some of the recommendations made later may be applicable to classes other than industrial workers. But we must emphasise the fact that, in respect of borrowing, the position of the industrial worker is in im- portant respects different from that of the agriculturalist. The main difference is caused by his mobility. The man who moves from mill to mill, from centre to centre, from town to village is an unsound proposition from the money-lender’s point of view. In addition, part of the agriculturalist’s borrowings takes the form of short-term loans connected with his avocation, and can usually be repaid from the increased income which results. Practically none of the borrowing of industrial workers is of this character. Finally, while the agriculturalist In a number of cases can offer security, this is seldom possible for the industrial worker. His family may have a few ornaments, but after these have been pledged or sold there is nothing left but future earning capacity. A debtor who isnot a permanent resident of the area where the money-lender carries on business, who cannot offer security, and who is not likely to obtain any increase in income as the result of his borrowing is in every way an unsound proposition. It is not surpris- ing, therefore, that the industrial worker should have to pay particularly high rates of interest. We doubt if the majority of money-lenders amass the large profits attributed to them by popular belief. Apart from the immense amounts of interest which remain unpaid, there is a high proportion of bad debts. Although the sums collected must be enor- Mous in the aggregate, the army of money-lenders is great and the ex- Penses of collection are often substantial. Co-operative Credit. i One effect of the difference between the agricultural and indus- brial worker in respect of debt is to render ineffective for the latter in many *ases the means on which most stress has been laid for relieving the 149

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