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 XXI. - Wages on planatations

Collection:: Economics Books

vo > CHAPTER XXI. effective organisations to protect their common interests. There are no less than 14 planters’ associations, and nearly all of them are now ander one federation, known as the United Planters’ Association of Southern India, which represents about 63 per cent of the total area under tea, coffee, and rubber in the South. In its memorandum to the Commission, the Association states that “ wages are generally fixed by district agreements and the amount is dictated by economic considera- tions and by the supply of labour at the time when it is required”. We were told that a private planter could increase the scale of wages, after giving three months’ notice to the Association, but in practice wages are not raised except by common consent. System of Advances. The system of wage payment on the plantations is generally linked up with the system of advances to which we have already referred. On arrival at the estate the labourer is debited with the amount of the advance which is outstanding against him and is credited from time to time with the wages he earns. For his maintenance he is given weekly advances which are also debited to his account. The accounts are made up monthly and are open to inspection by the workers, but in practice there is and can be little or no effective check on the part of the worker. When the time comes for him to return to his home, his account is closed, and he is paid the balance standing to his oredit. In effect, the worker opens an account with his employer, receiving weekly the small amounts considered necessary for his maintenance and withdrawing the total amount standing to his eredit at the end of his contract period. No interest is charged on the original advance, nor is any interest paid on the amounts due to the worker, which are held on his account till he leaves for his home. In a few cases where labour is recruited locally, wages are paid weekly or monthly, but the system which we have described above generally prevails in the plantations of the Madras Presidency and Coorg. Prevailing Rates of Wages. The prevailing basic rates of wages in the Madras Presidency are 7 annas a day for men, 5 annas a day for women and 3 to 4 annas a day for children ; in Coorg the basic rates are 6 annas for men, 4 annas tor women and 2 to 3 annas for children. These rates are dependent >n the performance of a daily task which varies from garden to garden. Work commences from 7-30 A. M. and continues till 4-30 Pp. M. with a sreak at noon for an hour or so. We were informed that the worker of ordinary capacity can finish his daily task well within this time and, if he chooses, can also earn more by doing additional tasks ; but, in the absence of any reliable statistics of the average earnings of the workers, we are not in a position to judge how far they supplement their daily wages by extra piece work. Plucking is paid for at contract rates, and we understand that the workers are then able to earn considerably nore than their standard daily rates. In addition to wages, a bonus 's paid in some areas to workers for regular attendance. Thus, in the

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