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 XXV. - Labour and the constitution

Collection:: Economics Books

15" MINUTE BY SIR VICTOR SASSOON. Preliminary. Before dealing with the actual subjects on which my views diverge from those of my colleagues, I feel that a word of explanation is necessary in order that my personal position may be made quite clear. Basically there is very little difference of opinion between us. I desire to see the standard of living not only of the industrial but also of the general population in India raised far above the present unsatisfactory level : I desire to see hours of work reduced and those hours occupied more efficiently and intensively: I desire to see a material improve- ment in health conditions, whether in the factory or in the home. [t can fairly be said, therefore, that the divergence of our views does not lie so much in the objects to be attained as in the methods by which they should be achieved and the speed with which these goals should be reached. My European colleagues are ‘naturally influenced by what has taken place in the West and have endeavoured to adopt a procedure tending toward Western ideals : on the other hand my Indian colleagues, perhaps not unnaturally, consider that, if the machinery of the West is introduced in the East, the consequences will be the same in both Hemispheres. In my opinion the long period of experiment and development out of which the present industrial system in the Western Hemisphere has gradually evolved has received insufficient emphasis. Education both of capital and labour and of public opinion is a slow and gradual process ; and the assumption that remedies which are the result of a long evolutionary period in the West can be fitted ready-made to India is not justifiable. Further my colleagues in their desire for statutory reforms have not in my opinion sufficiently stressed the useful part played in this country by the voluntary efforts of employers in the past: they have only resorted to the encouragement® of such endeavours in the future where statutory recommendations appear impossible of achievement. I on my side consider that attempts to deal with these economic subjects should be carried out voluntarily as far as possible, and that statutory aid should only be invoked where it is absolutely necessary. India is essentially a poor country and any attempt to bring her labour legislation up to the same level as in Western countries, in effect as well as in intention, can only be achieved by the institution of a large and expensive machinery for inspection which will absorb more revenue than she will be able to afford for many years to come. That such an inspectorate will be necessary if the suggestions of the Commission are carried out is admitted on pages 213-14 :— “We here refer to matters such as the slow growth of the spirit of compliance with the industrial law among the smaller and less well organised employers, the ignorance and illiteracy of the workers, the possibility of collusion and the large areas to be covered in the case of scattered industries—all of which tend to make a high annual percentage of inspection essential if enforcement is to be effective », The steady growth, side by side, of Indian industry and rural population raises a question which merits some attention : there 1s an

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