212 . CHAPTER XII. 
most part without any certainty as to the method and extent of its appli- 
cation. Interest in this subject in India has received a considerable 
stimulus from the Draft Convention on the subject adopted by the Inter- 
national Labour Conference in 1928. The Convention contemplates the 
creation of such machinery only in the case of “ trades or parts of trades 
(and in particular in home working trades) in which no arrangements exist 
for the effective regulation of wages by collective agreement or otherwise 
and wages are exceptionally low ”. The question as to the nature and 
form of the machinery and the trades to which it is to be applied are left 
entirely to the discretion of the States concerned. After canvassing 
opinions, the Government of India came to the conclusion that they 
could neither enter into any commitment nor give any indication of 
possible ratification until a thorough enquiry had been held into the prac- 
ticability of establishing wage boards in India. Both chambers of the 
Central Legislature agreed that the Convention should not be ratified, 
the Legislative Assembly adding the rider “ pending the report of the 
Indian Labour Commission >’. 
Possible Application of Minimum Wages. 
We have throughout approached the consideration of questions 
from the point of view of the needs of India rather than of the 
applicability of international Conventions; and we deal elsewhere 
with the question of wage-fixing machinery in the Assam planta- 
tions, a case which we donot regard as coming within the scope of 
the Convention. We have also recommended the guaranteed payment of 
a standard minimum output in the case of underground workers in coal 
mines. This, however, is not equivalent to a minimum wage, as it 
is not proposed that the rate of payment for the task should be 
regulated. In our view the Convention, in referring to trades in which 
wages are ‘‘ exceptionally low ”, must be regarded as having in view trades 
in which wages are low, not by comparison with Western or other foreign 
standards, but by comparison with the general trend of wages and wage 
levels in kindred occupations in the country concerned. It must always 
be remembered that in India organised industry cannot be regarded as 
lowering the standard of living of those it absorbs, the majority of whom 
left the field for the factory to secure an alleviation of their hardships. 
It appears to us that, in order to conform to both the letter and the spirit 
of the Convention, it would first be necessary to create machinery for 
fixing minimum rates of wages in those trades in which wages are 
lowest and where there is no question of collective bargaining. 
Preliminary Enquiries. 
In view of the absence in India of reliable information on wage 
rates and earnings in individual industries, to which reference has 
already been made, it would be unwise to attempt legislation on the lines of 
the Convention before obtaining a fairly clear indication of the 
trades to which the machinery should properly be applied in the first 
instance. It will be recognised by those familiar with the subject 
that it was impossible for us, in the time at our disposal and with such wide 
terms of reference, to survey the trades or to sav definitely in the case of