2 
CHAPTER XII. 
and the ferment of thought in India are combining to produce, and 
the progress already visible should hearten all those who believe in the 
possibility of advance. It ison the growth of the will to progress in 
the community generally, in those responsible for government and for 
the control of industry, and in the workers themselves that the hope of 
the future lies. 
IV. 
Efficiency and Quality. 
In entering on the discussion of possible methods of raising 
the standard of living, we are faced by two main facts, poverty 
and the low level of efficiency. So far as efficiency is concerned, com- 
parisons are available of the number of workers required in India and in 
other countries, Western and Eastern, to produce certain quantities of 
material in a given time, and some of these will be found in the evidence. 
We do not quote them here, because, apart from their limited scope, 
it is impossible to say that such quantitative measurements have taken 
account of all the other factors involved, such as differences in machi- 
nery, organisation, etc. But it must be admitted that the Indian 
industrial worker produces less per unit than the worker in any other 
country claiming to rank as a leading industrial nation. The causes of 
this low efficiency are complex. Some are to be found in the climate 
of India and other factors; but a powerful influence is exercised 
everywhere by the low standard of living. Inefficiency is attributable 
to lack of both physical energy and mental vigour. These are to a 
large extent different aspects of the same defect, for physical weak- 
ness cuts at the root of ambition, initiative and desire. This weak- 
ness arises from the hardships to which the worker, who starts with 
an indifferent physique, is subjected and especially his unsatisfac- 
tory diet and the conditions under which he is generally compelled to 
live. These hardships and conditions are mainly the result of inability 
to afford anything better, and this in its turn arises from low effi- 
ciency. Thus poverty leads to bad conditions, bad conditions to in- 
efficiency and inefficiency to poverty. We believe in attempting to 
break the vicious circle at as many points as possible. There must be 
an endeavour to enhance efficiency, to heighten earnings and to improve 
the conditions of life. We have endeavoured throughout to keep 
in view the question of raising the efficiency of the worker. The 
recommendations relating to working conditions in all the industries 
discussed have been designed in the belief that they will lead to a 
permanent increase in the general level of efficiency of the Indian worker, 
and this part of the ground need not be covered again. We must 
observe, however, that, in looking to increased efficiency as the 
main source of a higher standard of living, we have in view more 
than an increase in the efficiency of the worker. The range of efficiency 
on the part of employers in India is very wide. There are enterprises 
that will stand comparison with any outside India ; there are others 
whose inefficiency is obvious even to the casual observer. We are