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 XVI. - Workmen's compensation

Collection:: Economics Books

296 CHAPTER XVI. whose procedure is specially prescribed. From their decisions an appeal is possible only in particular cases, and to the High Court alone. In a number of other directions, which will be evident from the discussion of the details of the measure to which we turn later, the Act contains provisions in some cases of a novel character. designed to meet the peculiar conditions of Indian labour. Working of the Act. The introduction of the bill was attended by considerable apprehension ; the measure was one of a type entirely new to India and the migratory character of Indian industrial labour, the comparative paucity of medical and insurance facilities and the strong tendency to litigation appeared to raise problems which were much less serious in the countries on whose experience the legislature had to proceed. But the fears expressed when the bill was under consideration have been unrealised. The Act has proved remarkably smooth in its operation, litigation has been confined to most reasonable dimensions, and compensa- tion has been secured for a large and increasing number of workmen with a comparatively small amount of expense and delay. So far as the ad- ministrative point of view is concerned, there is much to support the opinion of the Bengal Government that the Act has been an © unqualified success ” and the fact that it has been largely followed in an Act passed in the Federated Malay States confirms the view generally held of it in India. In one important respect, however, we regard its success as incomplete for it is evident that, up to the present, workmen, and to a less extent their dependants, have not taken full advantage of the benefits conferred upon them by the legislature. We shall revert later to this question and merely note here that the comparative paucity of small claims under the Act has facilitated its operation during the earlier years and that this feature cannot, and should not, be permanent. Causes of Success, Such success as the Act has had must, we think, be attributed in the main to its extreme precision and to the special machinery set up for its administration. But the attitude of many employers and of a number of sympathisers with labour has been an important con- tributory cause. The larger employers, with whom the Act isat present mainly concerned, have generally shown great readiness to comply with its provisions, and have been reluctant to contest cases. Insur- ance organisations have been of great assistance, particularly in the large cities, and one of the most important employers’ associations has been successful in operating a system of mutual insurance. On the other side, although the majority of trade unions have not yet realised the op- portunities of useful work which the Act affords, some of them have done what they could on behalf of workmen : and their efforts have been sup- plemented by other sympathisers including, in at least one centre, a group of lawyers undertaking cases without remuneration. Workmen Covered. Passing to a more detailed consideration of the A ct, the first and perhaps the most important question which arises is that of the nersons

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