Subject: Economics

Class: M.A. 4th Semester

Year/Semester: 2020-2021
Name of thePaper: Labour Economics
Topic: Labour Welfare
Sub-topic: : Labour Welfare
Key-words: Labour Welfare

Dr. Rakesh Kumar Tiwari

Department of Economics
Faculty of Social Science
Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith
Varanasi-02
E: mail: drrakeshtiwari@mgkvp.ac.in
 contents
 Introduction to Labour Welfare
 Meaning of Labour Welfare
 Definitions of Labour Welfare
 Classification of labor welfare works
 Importance of Labour Welfare Measures
 Benefit from labour welfare
 Needs or reasons for labor welfare in India.
 Labour Welfare in India
 Labour Welfare Efforts
 National Labour Commission
 Questions
 References
 Introduction to Labour Welfare

 Under the Labor Welfare are all the services which are
provided for the wages, and the conditions of the deal,
for additional workers economic, physical and mental
progress.
 The acceptance, respect, goodwill, attention and
recognition, which a worker gets from his work group,
community, family and neighbourhood forms an
integral part of the modern concept of labour welfare.
Capacity of the worker to satisfy his physiological
needs like food, clothing and shelter from his pay
packet refers to physical concept of labour welfare.
 Labour Welfare – Meaning
 Labor welfare is concerned with taking care of the
welfare of workers by employers, trade unions,
governmental and non-governmental institutions and
agencies. Welfare includes anything that is done for
the comfort and improvement of employees and
provided above salary.
 DefinitionS of Labour Welfare

 According to Arthur James Todd, “Labour welfare means

anything done for the comfort and improvement,
intellectual and social, of the employees over and above the
wages paid which is not a necessity of the Industry.”
 According to Industrial Labour Organisation (ILO),
“Labour welfare may be understood and including such
services facilities and amenities which may be established
in vicinity of undertaking to perform their work in healthy
and congenial environment and to avail of facilities which
improve their health and bring high morale.”
 According to Labour Investigation Committee. “Anything
done for the intellectual, physical, moral and economic
betterment of the workers, whether by the employers, by the
government or by other agencies over and above what is laid
down by law or what is normally expected on the part of the
contractual benefits for which worker may have bargained.”
Classification of labor welfare works

 On the basis of space

A. Internal Welfare Work of Industry
B. External Welfare Work of an Industry
 On the basis of Management
A. Statutory Work
B. Voluntary
C. Mutual
 Classification in terms of providing team.
A. By the Manufacturer
B. By the Government
C. By Trade Union
D. Classification of services.
i. Economic Welfare Work
ii. Educational Facilities
iii. Entertainment
iv. Health Work
v. Cultural Work
 Benefit from labour welfare
 Labor Efficiency Increases
 Helps in industrial peace
 Labor welfare helps in the moral progress of workers.
 The absence of labour is less.
 Work of labor-welfare creates a desire in the worker to
stay in his place and that work does not change again
and again.
 The standard of living of the worker is high.
Needs or reasons for labor welfare in
India.
 Poverty of Laboures
 Illitracy of Workers
 Bad Health
 Less Efficiency of Labourers
 High Rate of Absenteeism
 Socialistic Programme
 Industrial Untrest
 Bad Habits
 LABOUR WELFARE IN INDIA
 India's labor force ranges from a large number of illiterate
workers to a large number of highly educated and skilled
professionals. Labor welfare activities started in India in
1837. He made notable changes during the coming years.
The 10 Five Year Plans have had a tremendous impact. In
addition, the Planning Commission of India has taken
measures to enhance the welfare of workers in various
fields such as child labor, bonded wages, women labor and
occupational safety and health. Welfare work (broadly
defined) in India is carried out by various governmental
and non-governmental organizations, the most important
of which are national government, state government, trade
unions, public sector and private sector non-governmental
organizations.
 Activities in the sector include housing facilities,
education, occupational safety and health, child
prevention and bonded wages, and increased welfare
activities that work. The private sector welfare measures
are of a similar nature. Notable companies taking
initiative in this regard are Tata and Larsen & Toubro.
The article states that the structure of a welfare state
rests on the fabric of its social security. The government,
employers and trade unions have done much to improve
the conditions of workers. However, a lot still needs to be
done.
 In 1922 an All India Labour-Welfare Conference was held in
Mumbai in which the importance of labour-welfare was
acknowledged and it was decided to try in this direction. In the
year 1926, in the 'International Labour Organization', there was a
proposal regarding labour welfare which attracted the attention
of all member countries.
But in India, the attention of the government and
industrialists shifted towards labour welfare work in the Second
World War, because the government had to encourage the workers
for the success of the war effort and the industrialists had to
maintain industrial peace to make profit. First, some
arrangements were made for the entertainment and benefit of
workers in government factories. In 1942, the Central
Government, Mr. R. S. Nimbakar appointed labour welfare
consultant. Refreshments were opened in government factories.
Medical etc. was arranged. In 1944 AD, the Labour-Welfare Fund
was started in coal mines by an order.
 LABOUR WELFARE EFFORTS
 Welfare Steps Taken By The Government
1. Coal Mines Labour Welfare Fund Act, 1947
2. Mica Mines Labour Welfare Fund Act, 1946
3. Indian Factories Act, 1948
4. Plantation Labour Act, 1951
5. Assam Tea Plantation Workers Welfare Fund Act, 1951
6. Dock Workers (Safety, Health and Welfare) Scheme
7. Motor Transport Workers Act, 1961
8. Iron, Manganese and Chrome Ore Labour Welfare Fund
Act, 1961
9. The Beedi Workers Welfare Fund Act, 1976
10. Indian Mines Act, 1952
11. The Limestone and Dolomite Labor-Welfare Act, 1972
12. Bombay Labour Welfare Fund Act, 1953
13. Uttar Pradesh Labor Welfare Fund Act, 1956
 Welfare Functions of Industrialist
1. Labor-welfare cotton textile industry done in factories.
A. Jute Industry
B. Woolen Textile Industry
C. Iron and Engineering Industries
2. Mine Industry
 Welfare Functions of Trade Union
The trade union is not merely an institution of struggle. Its
work is also to make moral, mental, physical progress of its
members. Hence, they also do work as well as power. These
actions increase the power of the union. A sense of
brotherhood arises in them. The name of Ahmedabad
Cotton Textile Mill Mazdoor Union is notable in this subject.
This association spends 60-70% of its income in welfare
works. The union has made arrangements for schools,
hostels, library, reading room, sports and exercise etc. Apart
from this, hospitals, child and maternal welfare centers,
cooperative banks etc. are also being run.
Mazdoor Sabha of Kanpur has also opened a library and a
hospital for the benefit of laborers. Indore mill laborers have
arranged some child laborers women welfare centers,
gymnasium etc.
 A little work has been done by the trade union of Kolkata in
the jute industry. Work has also been done in the tea gardens
of Assam. Overall, the work done by the trade union is very
small but then its importance cannot be denied.
 Work of charities
 National Labour Commission
 The first National Labor Commission was established
by the Government of India in December 1966. This
commission was set up to promote good relations
between the owners and workers of the country under
the chairmanship of Shri PV Gajendradkar. In this, 37
study teams and committees were appointed to study
specific issues and labor related problems of some
important industries. The Commission submitted its
report to the Government in August 1969.
The major recommendations of the First National
Labor Commission are as follows -
 First National Labor Commission
1. The Commission recommended to establish a Permanent
Industrial Relations Commission both at the Center and the
State.
A. To make judicial decisions by doing industrial conflicts.
B. To mediate.
C. Recognition of various labor unions as representative unions.
2. Permanent Labor Courts should be established in every state.
These courts will resolve the conflicts regarding award rights
and obligations. Apart from this, they will extract the
meaning of the award and the rights and responsibilities
under them and will settle the disputes and conflicts in the
subject of their implementation. These labor courts should
also have the right to decide on conflicts related to unfair
labor practices.
3. The Commission, while accepting the principle of
minimum wages, recommended that the wages payable
capacity of the industry should be kept in mind while
fixing wages. According to the Commission's opinion, it is
neither possible nor desirable to fix the National Minimum
Wage for the entire country. If the national minimum wage
is fixed according to the conditions of the advanced and
developed regions of the country, then it will not be
possible to apply it in the whole country and if it is fixed
according to the conditions of the less developed regions,
then it will not be of any benefit. Hence, the commission
recommended fixing different regional minimum wages for
different regions of the country.
4. According to the Commission, Collective Bargaining is an
excellent tool for resolving industrial conflicts. To
encourage this tool, the Commission recommended several
steps. The Commission also suggested that the mill-owners
mandate labor unions, so that they could enter into
convenient negotiations with the managers.
5. Regarding the strike and lockouts, the Commission is clear
that in some circumstances it is just and necessary to
cooperate with these tools. However, the Commission has
recommended some restrictions on strike and lockouts.
6. The Commission has made several concrete suggestions for
strengthening the labor unions from the organizational
and financial point of view. The commission has also made
several suggestions, whose implementation will reduce the
bitterness of labor unions and enable them to contribute
actively to the economic development of the nation.
7. According to the Commission, the continuous increase in
real wages, which is the main goal of the wage policy, is
impossible to achieve without an increase in productivity.
For this purpose, the commission has emphasized to take
motivational schemes. The Commission also indicated that
wage rates should be reconsidered from time to time along
with changing the cost of living. The commission
recommended mixing dearness allowance with basic wages.
8. The Commission stressed the importance of wage boards as
a means of fixing wages and made several suggestions for
their effective implementation. Whatever should be the
unanimous decision of the wage boards as per the opinion
of the Commission, it should be legally mandatory to
implement it.
 The recommendation of the majority of the National Labor
Commission was that the rate of contribution for the
provident fund should be increased from the present six and
a half percent to 8 percent and where previously it was 8
percent, it should be increased to 10 percent.
9. In relation to agricultural land, the Commission suggested
to implement the Minimum Wages Act, 1949 and said that
it should first be introduced in the areas with very low
wages.
10. Apart from this, the Commission has also made
recommendations regarding setting up of a coordinated
organization at the center and state levels, organizing
agricultural workers into groups, fixing wages, rethinking
it, etc. In the interest of the Common Labor Code, the
Commission did not reveal its view.
 Second National Labor Commission
The Second National Labor Commission was constituted by
the Government of India on 15 October 1999. Shri Ravindra
Verma was appointed its chairman.
 Question
1. Describe and evaluate the work related to labor
welfare in India.
2. Explain the meaning and importance of labor
welfare. Explain the difference also.
3. "Labor-welfare in India is more important than other
countries." Explain
4. 'Labor-welfare benefits the workers, industrialists
and social classes.' Explain
 References
 Ray Marshall & Vernon M. Briggs Jr, “Labor Economics:
Theory, Institutions, and Public Policy”
 Garth Mangum; Peter Philips, “Three Worlds of Labor
Economics”
 Lloyd G. Reynolds, ‘Labor Economics and Labor Relations’
 P.K. Gupta , Labour Economics.
 http://www.economicsdiscussion.net/labour/labour-
welfare/31839
 http://socialworkbhu.blogspot.com/2014/05/definition-of-
labour-welfare.html
 https://www.google.com/
 https://hi.wikipedia.org/