584 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
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*** Measures for Ameliorating the Economic** Condition of Labourers
90. Dr. Sir Zia Uddin Ahmad : (a) Will the Honourable the Labour Member be pleased to state what steps he has taken to ameliorate the economic condition of labourers ?
(b) In what manner does he propose to safeguard the interests of labourers ?
(c) Is he prepared to reorganise the unions of labour and to place them in a position to safeguard their own interests ?
The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : (a) Both in legislative and executive action Government have striven to ensure fair conditions to labour. A copy of Press Note issued when I met the Press is attached for Honourable Member’s information. It will give some idea of the ameliorative provisions. If the Honourable Member desires any more detailed information on specific points, it will be supplied.
(b) This is already replied to under (a).
(c) It is not for Government to reorganise labour unions.
@ Labour Welfare in Wartime India
In view of the appointment of a number of Assistant Labour Welfare Officers who will soon be posted to important industrial areas, we may take stock of what is being done for Labour’s betterment in wartime India.
The old concept of a government’s job being to govern, to maintain law and order, has given place to a new ideal in which the responsibility of an administration for the material and cultural well-being of the people is recognised. In India Labour is mainly a provincial subject and we at the Centre have heretofore been responsible mainly in securing uniformity in Labour legislation and adherence to such of the International Labour Office Conventions as are practicable for India. Our legislation though comprehensive has been confined more to conditions of service and industrial relations than to such matters as wages and welfare.
In wartime some curtailment of Labour’s rights is necessary to ensure continuance of production but in the very process of effecting
- Legislative Assembly Debates (Central), Vol. I of 1943, 16th February 1943, pp.
270-71.
@ Ibid. Press Note, dated 30th October, 1942. (Summary of Statement made by the Hon’ble Dr. B. R. Ambedkar.).