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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Chapter

Document type:: Monograph

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: Chapter XVI. - Workmen's compensation

Collection:: Economics Books

WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION. 309 imperfectly acquainted with the law and procedure. On the whole, magistrates, in spite of their less thorough legal training, probably find it easier than do most civil court judges to accommodate themselves to the requirements of these posts, with their unusual combination of extra- judicial and judicial duties, and we received evidence of some value from magistrates who had experience as Commissioners in industrial centres. But the work demands specialist knowledge and a specialist outlook which is not very easy to acquire. Moreover when an executive or judicial officer has obtained experience, he is liable to be transferred to a district where he has small concern with the Act, and to be replaced by an officer who has little experience of the subject. It is not surprising, therefore, that there should be demands from organisations closely concerned with the Act for the appointment of specialist Commissioners in all provinces. Administrative Arrangements Recommended. The only objection to such a step arises from the immense area to be covered. In all districts, except the few that are of industrial importance, cases are uncommon and are likely to remain so for some time to come. An officer situated within the district, if he is willing to give some attention to the subject, should be more effective than a better-qualified Commissioner, who may be situated at a long distance and may be unable to visit the district to decide a case. We are not pre- pared, therefore, to recommend the adoption of any absolute rule. But we consider it desirable that in every major province, there shovld be at least one officer who can be regarded as a specialist in the sub- ject. He need not be a whole-time officer, but continuity of tenure is important, and the appointment should not be linked with one in which transfers are frequent. We suggest that he should be made Commis- sioner for the district or districts of chief industrial importance, and for as many other districts as he can effectively cover. This should leave only the comparatively unimportant areas to less expert officers, who might be enabled to have the assistance of the specialist officer. We note that the Act does not contemplate more than one officer exercising jurisdiction in the same area. It seems to us that, apart from the general desirability cf having more than one officer capable of disposing of a particular dispute, the appointment of an additional Commissioner would have other advantages in some areas. For example, if additional Commissioners could be appointed, it would be possible to give a specialist Commissioner general responsibility for a wide area, with power to devolve work in outlying areas as occasion demanded. But whether this proves feasible or not, we are convinced of the desirability of entrusting the working of the Act, as far as possible, to specialist Commissioners. The Increase of Claims. An additional argument in favour of a change in this direction is afforded by the increase in the number of claims and disputes without any substantial addition to the classes of persons who are ““ workmen =, The following table gives the number of cases filed before Commissioners from the inception of the Act to the end of 1929. and also shows the

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