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

HOURS IN FACTORIES. 53 retention of a lower minimum age standard. Nor do they consider that the attainment by India of the standard laid down in Article II of the Convention should be dependent upon the establishment in the industrial areas of compulsory primary education. Moreover, in their opinion the amount of dislocation caused should not be great since they believe that it will be found that many children now employed in regulated factories will not leave their villages for the industrial areas till such work is available for them. The majority of the Commission fear that the result will be that some children may seek work in unregulated factories, replacing younger ones whose continued employment in such places will become illegal if our recom- mendations in a subsequent chapter are adopted, and that the hours in such places will continue for some time to be longer than those at present operative, or now proposed, in respect of regulated factories. The minority believe, however, that this will apply only in a limited number of cases and that it represents a temporary phase, pending the synchronising of the minimum age in both classes of establishment. Even if there were greater force in this argument than they believe to be the case, it would in their opinion be unreasonable to defer any longer the raising of the minimum age for employment of children in establishments coming under the Factories Act. Their recommenda- tion is made in the belief that it will be in the national interest for this age to be increased to 14 years and that the method suggested will achieve this end without undue economic dislocation to parents or mdustry. Intervals for Children. The question of intervals for children’s work is one of some difficulty. A 5 hours’ period of continuous work is open to obvious objection ; on the other hand, to insist on an interval would probably result in the adoption of split shifts, and might tend to keep children away from their homes for long periods. On the whole, having regard to the fact that much of the present work of children in the mills is of a quasi-intermittent character, and that our recommendations, if adopted, will lead to a 4} hour day for children in the majority of factories, we think it preferable that an interval should not be obligatory. At the same time we recommend that, whether the children are worked for 4} or 5 hours, all employers should arrange that at least one rest mterval is given. Young Persons. The question of constituting a separate class of young persons, intermediate between children and adults, has been considered on several previous occasions and has been rejected as impracticable. We agree that it is not reasonably practicable to constitute a young persons’ class whose hours would differ appreciably from those of adults ; but we think that in two respects the law should give further protection to adolescents. We recommend that persons between the ages of 15 and 16 years should not be employed as adultsin factories unless they are in possession of medical certificates certifving them as physically fit: for adult employment.

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