FACTORIES (AMENDMENT) BILL 331
of the Bill which as I said deals with the rate of payment for overtime, Honourable Members will see that the existing Factory Act does not have a uniform rule with regard to payment of overtime. In fact, there are two different rules, one for perennial factory and the other for seasonal factory. For the seasonal factory, if the hours of work are above 60, then he gets 1 [1] / 2 for the non-seasonal factory, there are really two different rates. If the working hours are between 54 to 60, then the overtime is 1 [1] / 4 times, if it is above 60, it is 1 [1] / 2 times. As Government thinks that as this distinction or differentiation in the rates of payment of overtime is unjustifiable, that it is desirable that there ought to be one single rule for overtime, irrespective of the nature of the factory, to which the rule applies. Consequently the amendment in the Bill proposes that for all overtime, the rates should be one and a half times. I hope that the house will realise that this is a simple measure, that it is a measure long overdue and that it will give its support to this belated measure of bringing Indian legislation in accord with the standards laid down by the International convention. Sir, I move.
Factories (Amendment) Bill
*The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : Sir, I have listened to the speech which the Mover made in support of his amendment and if that speech was the only speech in support of the amendment I certainly would have resisted the amendment, because, so far as I was able to hear, the Honourable the mover of this amendment said that the reason why he had moved his amendment was because I had not explained in my speech whether the Government of India, before putting forth this Bill, had consulted the different Parties to this measure. I certainly failed to say so but I thought that the Honourable member of this house were aware of the fact that for the last several years there has been in existence an institution called the Labour Conference which meets annually and which has a Standing Committee which meets every quarter. It consists of the representatives of labour, the representatives of employers and the representatives of the Provincial Governments. The Government of India, in so far as it is possible, for it to do so, always put forth their legislative measures
- Legislative Assembly Debates (Central), Vol. I-No. 7, 21st February 1946, pp. 1312-13.