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

Usage license:: Get license information via the feedback formular.

Chapter

Document type:: Monograph

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: Chapter XXI. - Wages on planatations

Collection:: Economics Books

WAGES ON PLANTATIONS. ‘ © 3901 the rates of wages are appreciably lower than in adjacent ones and that they should and could be raised at least to the general level : this would be secured bv the adoption of such a svstem. Experience in Cevlon. Through the courtesy of the Colonial Office, the Ceylon Govern- ment and the Ceylon Planters’ Association, we were enabled to see at first hand conditions of employment in the Ceylon plantations and to obtain advice regarding the working of the recent minimum wage ordinance. We do not seek to minimise the fact that the impetus to the inauguration of a legal minimum wage, both here and in Malaya, came from the Indian Government, and that employers, realising that their supply of labour, and therefore the very existence of their industry, was ultimately dependent on the good-will of the Indian Government, were not altogether free agents in the matter. However, the information which we received indicates that there is general agreement that the introduction of the minimum wage in Ceylon has been beneficial. Without placing any undue burden on the industry, it has guaranteed protection to the worker of his standard of living and to the employer from undercutting by his fellow planter. It was clear to us that it was receiv- ing the whole-hearted co-operation of the planting community, and, as a result, was working successfully to the mutual benefit both of employer and employed, and with the minimum expenditure by Government upon enforcement costs. Indeed, we did not find any planter, whether speaking individually or on behalf of his Association, who advocatzd the repeal of the minimum wage ordinance and a return to the condi- tions prevailing prior to its inauguration. Obiections to Statutory Wace Rerulation. The representatives of the Indian tea industry who appeared before us were unanimously opposed to any scheme of wage regulation, perhaps not unnaturally ; most official witnesses were also doubtful as to whether it would prove a practical proposition. The objections raised, however, appear to be due to a misconception as to its object aud the method of its operation. There is, in the first place, the fear that wage rates would be raised unduly, and that the less prosperous gardens would be driven out of existence. These apprehensions were urged in Ceylon when statutory wage regulation was first mooted, but they have not been borne out by experience. The successful operation of wage-fixing machinery necessitates consideration of the question with close relation to the economic effects of any proposed rate upon the industry, and it is not likely that a properly constituted wage board would take action which would have the effect of bringing about a contraction in the industry and in the extent of employment open to labour in Assam. A more serious objection is that raised as to the prac- ticability of applying statutory rates to work of the kind done on Assam plantations. It is urged that the character of the work varies from

Access restriction

Copyright

fullscreen: Report of the Royal Commission on Labour in India

Monograph

Chapter

Table of contents

Download

Monograph

Chapter

This page

Image fragment

Citation links

Citation recommendation