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 IV. - Hours in factories

Collection:: Economics Books

13 CHAPTER IV, Unfortunately these figures throw little light on the position in perennial factories as they include the seasonal factories also, which constitute about half the total number. For the most part, the latter work both men and women for long hours, but the tes, factories, which ordinarily work very short weekly hours, form an important exception. We believe that, if seasonal factories were excluded, factories in which normal hours were not above 54 would constitute substantially more than half the total. But a better view of the position can be obtained by examin- ing in turn the more important industries, and here we have been fur- nished with a large mass of evidence. Cotton Textile Factories. The cotton textile mills ordinarily work a 60 hour week. Here the majority of the operatives are worked for 6 days of 10 hours each. In a number of the Bombay mills, and in a few mills elsewhere, women arrive later and leave earlier, and particular classes of operatives have shorter hours. A single shift is the general rule, but a few fac- tories have worked on a shift system for some time and in the last bwo years a night shift, generally very limited in numbers, has been introduced in several mills. In a few cases the night shift works for only 9 hours, but mills which have adopted two or more shifts have adhered as a rule to the 10 hour standard. No overtime is worked. Jute Mills. In the jute mills of Bengal hours of work have been regulated for many years by the Indian Jute Mills Association, which includes nearly all the employers. Since the end of the war, the mills in the membership of the Association, to meet, the requirements of trade, have not worked more than an average of five days per week, except for nine months in 1920 and the twelve months ended 30th June 1930. With the exception of the latter period, the associated mills since April 1921 have been working 54 hours per week and since July 1930 for only three weeks out of every four. When working 54 hours, single shift mills run five days, but mills working under the multiple shift system (a rapidly diminishing number) run four days of 13% hours, thereby limiting the hours of individual operatives to 44 weekly. Even during the last year’s spell of 60 hour working, the hours of operatives in the multiple shift mills, which worked four days and five days in alternate weeks, were limited to 44 hours in one week of the fortnight and 55 in the other. In view of the fact that jute mills generally have had only twelve months’ experience of more than 54 hous working during the past ten years, it is interesting to note that the Indian Jute Mills Association observe :— “ The restriction under the Factories Act to a sixty hour week has, undoubtedly, been very beneficial to labour. Workers have more leisure, especially at week-ends, and general efficiency has been considerably increased. The restriction has had little or no effect on the jute industry, the increase in the efficiency of the workers making up for the restriction in working hours.”

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