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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Chapter

Document type:: Monograph

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: Chapter XV. - Housing of the industrial worker

Collection:: Economics Books

282 CHAPTER XV. designs. Before construction begins, all plans are approved in respect of health requirements by the medical staff, and adequate water supplies with standpipes, washing places and sanitation are also provided by the management. As a part of the Company’s general welfare activities, which are in charge of a full-time welfare officer, prizes are offered for the best kept quarters and gardens. The Com- pany believes that the efforts of the occupants in these directions not only reduce the cost of maintaining the houses but help to raise the standard of living, and we were impressed with the results which had been obtained. On the other hand, the principle of housing numbers of ‘single’ men in long barrack rooms, such as we saw at Yenangyaung, Is a less happy one, even when the accommodation, as in this ins- tance, is well built and maintained in an admirable state of cleanliness. It is probable that the workers themselves would prefer rooms each capable of accommodating not more than four to six individuals, as under such an arrangement the men could exercise some selection in respect of their room companions and would have a greater degree of privacy than under the barrack scheme. In our opinion future construction of quarters for ‘single’ labourers should be arranged on this plan. Jamshedpur. The responsibility of employers varies to some extent with conditions and localities. The foundation of an industry in a new and hitherto undeveloped area gives rise to circumstances under which this responsibility must necessarily lie, in the first instance, with the em- ployers. That position has been largely accepted by such firms as the Tata Iron and Steel Company and the Tinplate Company in Jamshedpur. The former has erected nearly 5,000 houses which are rented to its employees, and the latter has built 326 quarters which accommodate over 41 per cent of its labour force. As it will be some time before housing accommodation for all the workers can be supplied, other schemes have been introduced in order to encourage workers to build their own houses. The Steel Company grants loans at 39, for this purpose, for kachcha houses three months’ wages being advanced without bond and being repayable in twelve monthly instalments. For puceca houses, loans are granted on a mortgage system and are limited to 15 months’ salary and half the estimated cost of the building, whilst they are recovered in easy instalments within a maximum period of 5 years. The total loans out- standing on 31st March 1929, amounted to Rs. 2,02,967 and the number of houses built under the two classes were 1,570 and 40 respectively. In addition, 5,660 houses have been built in bustees by the workers themselves at their own cost, but according to an approved lay-out on land prepared for building purposes. Many of the streets are lit with electric light and in a few years the company hopes to have a complete system of street and road lighting. Piped water is supplied except in some of the bustees, and a complete underground sewage system has been provided. The Tinplate Company also advances loans to its workers to enable them to build houses for themselves. These loans are Limited to

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