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 XIV. - Health and welfare of the industrial worker

Collection:: Economics Books

HEALTH AND WELFARE. 259 Survey of Industrial Areas. Whilst the need for extension and expansion of the existing medical facilities cannot be over-emphasised, only limited success has followed the repeated efforts made to rouse public opinion and to induce municipal councils to face the problems associated with ade- quate medical relief of the people. The time has come when the whole position in urban and industrial areas should be surveyed and an estimate made of the requirements of each, due consideration being given to already existing facilities, whether Governmental, mu- uicipal or industrial. We recommend that these surveys should be made by the Government medical departments through their Civil Surgeons and that the information thus made available for each ares should be considered at a joint conference of representatives of the three interested parties. While the primary responsibility will and must remain with Government and the local and municipal authorities, we believe that in many cases the employer would prefer to provide medical facilities for his own workers, if he were given some assistance and co-operation from Government and the local authorities. In other cases, with or without aid from Government, the local authority might provide the additional facilities required and recover the cost involved by increased taxation. Decisions on these and other methods could best be made at the conferences we have suggested, as we regard co-ordination of effort to be essential. With the additional powers reserved to themselves under the new Public Health Acts, it should be possible for Governments to ensure that effective steps are taken to provide early relief in the more needy areas. Governments could also enhance general progress by making percentage grants for such addi- tional facilities as they approve. This method to which reference has already been made, would give Governments power to supervise and inspect and to insist on minimum standards. In our opinion it is greatly to be preferred to the system of giving lump-sum grants without Subsequent supervision, as it not only maintains a measure of control, but also necessitates the raising of an equivalent amount by local baxation. The Scope of Welfare Work. Some of those who have considered the question of raising the standard of living have been impressed by the possibilities which are offered by welfare activities, with their indirect effect on that standard. We believe that there are great opportunities for the extension of welfare work in India, and that in few directions is expenditure of money and thought so certain to give valuable results. There are benefits of great portance which the worker is unable to secure for himself, such as decent housing, adequate sanitation, efficient medical attention and the education of his children, and an advance of State activity should be looked for in these directions. There is a difficulty in that the industrial workers form only a small fraction of the population and it is difficult 1 Justify any elaborate and expensive extension of State services for their exclusive benefit. In present circumstances therefore, further

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