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 XXIV. - Statistics and administration

Collection:: Economics Books

"AA CHAPTER XXIV. same centre, so that representative samples are difficult to secure. These considerations mean, that fairly elaborate machinery is required for any satisfactory wages enquiry. A Statistics Act. Further, we doubt if any extensive progress can be made with- out statutory powers. The Bombay enquiries have been carried through with the co-operation of the millowners, which was accorded on a generous scale ; but it seems to us unlikely that the same amount of success could be achieved elsewhere by voluntary methods, and we note that the ex- perience gained in Bombay led to the sponsoring of a “statistics bill by the provincial Government in 1924. Opposition was offered to it, especially by employers who were apparently reluctant to concede the Labour Office extensive powers, and it was abandoned by the Government in 1926. We believe that the principle of the measure was sound ; legisla- tion for the collection of statistics regarding the economic condition of the people is now in force in the majority of countries of any industrial importance. In respect both of wages and of other subjects bearing on the life of the industrial worker, the systematic collection of statistics requires legislation. We observe that the majority of the Indian Econo- mic Enquiry Committee of 1925 advocated the passing of a comprehensive Census and Statistics Act. The remaining member, whilst accepting the principle of compulsion, proposed to amend the Factories Act to secure the same end. We have already recommended an amendment of this Act in order to secure particulars of wages, but we do not think its scope is wide enough for the needs we have in view. We recommend that legislation be adopted, preferably by the Central Legislature, en- abling the competent authority to collect information from employers regarding the remuneration, attendance and living conditions (including housing) of industrial labour, from merchants regarding prices, from money-lenders regarding loans to workers and from landlords regard- ing rentals. We do not think that there need be any apprehen- sion regarding the possible abuse of such powers by Government departments. But we propose in the following chapter the constitu- tion of a body including employers which could be consulted in the matter. A body of this kind, when they were satisfied regarding the need of compulsory powers and the discretion that would be shown in using them, would be able to give the necessary authority to Gov- ernment offices and other reputable enquirers. It would naturally be a statutory condition that individual returns should not be published or disclosed without express permission. Earnings. The need for accurate information is even greater in the case of earnings than in the case of wage rates. Although some light on earn- ings can be obtained from the collection of accurate wage statistics, reliable information regarding these cannot ordinarily be obtained from the employer. As a matter of fact, in many cases the employer’s books do not contain particulars of the earnings of the individual worker. The

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