CENTRAL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH BIHAR

PROJECT-TOPIC
Industrial relation through five year plan

Submitted to Course Instructor Submitted by Student

Assistant Professor, Vivek raj

Subject- environmental law BA.LLB. (Hons)
Course Code -law 402 7 Semester
th

Continuous Assessment-III 4th Year

Enrollment No. CUSB1613125053
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

At this point of time I would like to express my gratitude to all those who gave me
their support to complete this project.
I am grateful to my subject teacher who is Dr. Ajay Kumar Barnwal, for giving me
permission to commence this project in the first instance and to do necessary study
and research. I want to thank my faculty members and other faculty members for all
their professional advice, value added time, effort and enterprise help, support,
interest and valuable hints that encouraged me to go ahead with my project.
I am deeply indebted to my colleagues for their meticulous planning, layout,
presentation and above all for their consideration and time.
My heartfelt appreciation also goes to seniors and my classmate for their stimulating
suggestions and encouragement which helped me at each level of my research and
in writing of this project.
Especially, I would like to give my special thanks to my parents, family members
and god whose patient love enabled me to complete this project.
Thanks to all once again for your support for the completion of this project
Introduction :
the national governments’ industrial and labour relation policies have been outlined in
successive five year plans of economic development. the government started with the laudable
objective of giving a fair deal to industrial labour, as it considered them to be one of the weaker
and oppressed section of society. there has been emphasis on enacting legislaton and
enunciating policies which would tilt the balance of power in favour of the working class. in
order to assess the impact of the industrail relation policy.
though the british government was guided by its own economic motives, they must be given
credit for designing a basic framework for a five year plan for labour welfare, which was
possibly motivated by the welfare state concept prevalent in nthe united kingdom in 1940. most
of the welfare legislation subsequently passed was on the foundations laid down by them. the
first major statement of industrial relation policies of the national government appeared in the
first year plan.
industrial relation in india
India was greatly advanced in tlie field of industry and comnierce in the past, as evidenced from its
ancient literature. In ancient times, tlie lligllest occupatioli in our country was agriculture followed by
trading. Manual services formed the third rung of occupation. small manufacturers in their cottages,
mostly on hereditary basis, carried on a large number of occupations. Ancient scriptures and laws of
our country laid empliasis on tlie promotion and maintenance of peaceful relations between capital
and labour. From tlie very early days, craftsmen and workers felt the necessity of being united. The
utility of union has been stated in sukla yajurveda samhita, "if men are united, nothing can deter
them’kautilyas’s arthashatra gives a cornpreliensive picture of tlie organisation and functions oftlie
social and political institutions of India and a good description of unions of eniployees, craftsmen
orartisans. There were well organised gui Ids, which worked according to their own byelaws for tlie
management of tlie unions. Idowever, there were no organisations of workers during the Mi~glial
rule. Tlie labourers were entirely dependent on their masters and forced worlc was talcen from
them. tlistorical evidence fi~rtlier shows tlie existe~lce of rilles of conduct and prescribed procedure
for tlie senle~nent of dispi~tes for PI-omoting cordial relations between tlie parties. Tlie working
~.elations, how eve^., in those days were more or less of a personal cliaracter ancl are very rn~~cli
dislingl~isliable from tlie present-day indi~strial relations as have gradually developed wit11 the
growth of Iargescale industries. Evolution of Industrinl Relations and Current Dcvelopnlents A study
of modern industrial relations in India can be made in three distinct phases. The first phase can be
considered to liave commenced from the middle of tlie ninetee~itli century and ended by tlie end
oftlie First World War. Tlie seconcl phase comprises the period tlierexfter till the attainment of
indepenclence in 1947, and tlie thircl phase represents the post-independence era.Industrial
relations in India during the post-independence era underwent a significant change. One of the most
significant development in the field of Industrial Relations was the enactment of the Industrial
Disputes Act, 1947, which not only provides for the establishment of permanent machinery for the
settlement of Industrial Disputes but also makes these awards binding and legally enforceable. The
Constitution of India provided for Freedom of Association to all citizens subject to the interests of
public order. This gave the workers right to association, organisation and collective bargaining and a
fillip to the trade unions to rise, seek affiliation with Central bodies and to function more effectively.
an important development was the setting of the indian labour Conference (ILC), a tripartite body to
look into IR problems in India. Its main objective was to establish cooperation between the
government, the employers and the trade unions. In 1966, the National Commission of Labour (NCL)
was appointed by the government to look into labour matters and make recommendations.
According to NCL, industrial relations affect not merely the interests of the two participants- labor
and management, but also the economic and social goals to which the State addresses itself. During
this period there was a marked change in the attitude of the government towards labour and their
problems and many labour laws were enacted between 1947-1956 to protect the interests of the
industrial workers covering issues like seniority, wage rates, paid holidays, disciplinary matters,
social security etc. The Government enacted The Indian Factories Act, 1948, Employees State
Insurance Act, 1948 and Minimum Wages Act, 1948 - all measures for the welfare of the workers
and industry. During the late 1970s and early 1980s industrial relations was characterized by
violence due to various reasons like rising price levels @ 15%-20% annually, ineffective machinery
for speedy resolution of industrial disputes, and other problems like controls on production,
licensing procedures, high rate of taxation,restrictions on imports etc. which inhibited industrial
growth leading to incapacity to meet the legitimate demands of the working class. To meet the
situation of industrial strife, the government, on26th July, 1981, issued an ordinance to ban strikes. A
new law Essential Service Maintenance Act (ESMA) was promulgated.This Act provided the
government with wide ranging powers to intervene in industrial relations. It empowered the
government to ban strikes, lay-offs and lockouts in ‘essential services’ and also punish any person
who participates or instigates a strike deemed illegal under ESMA.

Indusstrial relation and five year plan:-

The Five Year Plans focused on:
 Improving the conditions of labour and welfare of workers
 Prevention and settlement of industrial disputes and maintenance of industrial peace
and harmony to avoid disruption of industrial activity which could adversely affect
the realization of plan goals
 Controlling industrial growth to prevent concentration of economic power in the
hands of a few and reducing income disparities among individuals and regions
 Worker’s education
 Worker’s participation in management
The scenario of the Indian industrial relations has been fast changing. With the incoming of a liberal
leader at the Centre and the reforms following after that have played a key role in giving a new
definition to the scenario. The tradition started by the Japanese concerns and some of the Indian
pioneers is being carried forward by the industry.The late 80s and early 90s saw an unprecedented
movement in the positive direction. The overall strikes and subsequent man-days lost are on decline.
The progressive outlook is on an increase.