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* Factories (Amendment) Bill
The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar (Labour Member): Mr. President I move :
“That the Bill further to amend the Factories Act, 1934, be taken into consideration”.
The Bill has altogether seven clauses ; but of these seven clauses there are only two which are fundamental. They are clause 2 and clause 7 of the Bill. These two clauses deal with two separate questions. Clause 2 deals with the question of reduction in the hours of work and clause 7 deals with the rate of payment for overtime.
Taking for consideration the first question, namely, the reduction in the hours of work. I would like to state to the House what the present position is. The present position is that under section 34 of the Factories Act, for perennial factories the maximum hours of work per week are fixed at 54, while for the non-perennial or seasonal factories the total is 60 hours a week. Clause 2 of the Bill proposes to make changes in the maximum hours of work fixed by section 34 for perennial factories the maximum is fixed at 48, while for the seasonal factories the maximum is fixed at 54. It might be desirable to mention to the House why Government has thought it necessary to bring this amending measure.
As some members of the House will remember, this question regarding the hours of work in factories was considered for the first time in a convention which was held in Washington in the year 1919. The convention fixed 40 hours as the maximum for factory labour, but on account of the special conditions prevalent in India, the conference agreed to allow India to retain the maximum of 60 hours, which was then prevalent. Consequently, the Government of India allowed the 60 hours limit to continue. The matter was then examined by the Royal
- Legislative Assembly Debates (Central), Vol. I-No. 7, 21st February 1946, pp. 1304-6.