covered by the Census at each centre is set out in the following
table -—
(Centres
Age and Sex Groups
Men .e
Women -
Children .
Total
Bombay Abmedabad
38,349 | 12,719
12,072 | 3,016
657
50.421 16.392
Sholapur
3,761
810
192
4.763
SoME DIFFICULTIES IN CONNEXION WITH THE CENSUS
18. In the case of the mills in Bombay City, seven mills submitted
their returns during the latter half of September and eleven mills in
October 1926. The return from one mill was received in November.
During the enquiries of 1921 and 1923 mass figures were asked for in
respect of the total number of workers in each occupation group in each
mill. No effort was made in the 1926 Enquiry to indicate the occupations
for which figures should be supplied. The result was that all the mills
used an aggregate of over one thousand terms for specifying different
occupations. A preliminary tabulation of the various terms used was
made and this was forwarded to the Bombay Millowners’ Association
with a request for suggestions with regard to the grouping of different
occupations. The Association suggested that it was not necessary to
compile the figures for as many occupation groups as were included in
the 1921 and 1923 Enquiries and that it would be sufficient if the statistics
were presented for the more important occupations in each department,
and to combine and present the figures for the rest under the term
“Others” for each department. The Technical Advisory Sub-
Committee of the Association very kindly. drew up a list of the
occupations under which the data should be tabulated, and also indicated
the major heads under which the different occupation terms used by
the individual mills should be listed.
19. In the case of the Ahmedabad mills which maintain their muster
rolls and records in Gujarati, it was at first agreed that those mills which
had been selected for the Census should give copies of their musters for
the three hapias covered by the month of May to the Labour Investigator
at Ahmedabad who would fill up the Census forms in the manner required.
It was considered later that this would be a very laborious procedure
and tha it would be better and quicker if special clerks were engaged to
fill up the forms in English at the mills concerned. The Government of
Bombay sanctioned the engagement of a special temporary establish-
ment of three clerks for this purpose for a period of three months. This
staff was engaged in the preliminary work of filling up the returns from
the 7th October 1926 to the 7th January 1927. The forms were then
subjected to a close scrutiny and verification by the Labour Investigator