EXECUTIVE SUMMARY, BACKGROUND, OBJECTIVE AND NEED FOR THE STUDY OF THE FACTORIES ACT, 1948
- 1. Dr. Satyabrata Patro Lecturer, P.G. Dept. of IR&PM Berhampur University
- 2. Factories Act is a labour legislation act existing since 1881 and was enforced to keep a check on condition of Industrial workers. Its prime objective was protecting workmen employed in factories against industrial and occupational hazards. It focused on regulating the working hours, weekly off, provisions regarding ladies and children. It imposes upon the owners and occupiers obligations to protect the workers. It was amended in 1911, 1923, 1935 & 1987. But the important amendments were made in 1948, which included safety of working place & machinery, health provision working hours, weekly off, paid leave, etc. It came into force on 1.4.1949 and is applicable to whole of India including Jammu and Kashmir.
- 3. Labour being one of the most important part of Indian Constitution, data on various aspects of labour is collected both by Central and State Governments. Most of the data gathered is the by product of the administration of various labour laws. The project highlights the historical background behind implementation of Factory Act in 1881. It also details out the reasons for the amendments of factory act since 1881 under various commissions. It focuses on studying various provisions for adults including male & female and children brought about in the amended Factory Act. Thus capturing trends of Factory Act since 1881. This is given in the form of comparison between the various years in which it was amended for better and clear understanding.
- 4. Secondly, it analyses the various parameters of factory acts such as distribution of industries, employment, industrial accidents, factory inspection, contract labour and women employment in the year 2010-2011.In order to analyze these factors various statistics for the year 2010-2011 are referred. This statistics are derived from secondary sources such as books and government manuals and also through interviewing the deputy chief inspector of Industries, Maharashtra. Depending upon the data gathered, analysis and interpretation is carried out. And based upon the conclusions, recommendations regarding improvement in various provisions of Factory Act and various conditions of employment are made. India will have to opt for labour reforms and brave the pangs of change in the short term in the interest of long term economic sustainability. India still remains hesitant about
- 5. amending laws that are detrimental to economic growth. It is quite unfortunate that the laws which were enacted to be employee friendly have become anti-employment. Background Factory Act is a central legislation which came into existence in 1881. It regulates the working conditions of the workers and lays down various provisions which are related to health, safety, working conditions, hazardous processes of the workers. It also provides procedures for penalties in case of any contravention of provisions of factory Act. The Act was amended in the year 1891, 1911, 1922, 1934, 1948, 1976 and 1987. It was extensively amended in the year 1948. The Factory Act 1948 is more comprehensive than the previous act and focuses mainly on health, safety, welfare of the workers inside factories, working hours, minimum age to
- 6. The Bhopal Gas Tragedy in 1984 has made the people aware of the pollution and hazards of factories and therefore necessitated the government to take timely steps facilitating amendments in the act. Factory Act is applied to all factories employing 10 persons or more when it uses power and 20 persons when no power is used. According to the Factory Act 1948 section 2 factory is defined as any premises including the precincts thereof: work, leave with pay etc. This act is based on the provisions which are provided under Factory Act of Great Britain passed in the year 1937. Today however factory and industry are understood to be interchangeable. But this is incorrect. Industry is a steady and systematic activity in which trade is organized whereas factory refers to the place where such activities are carried on. The entire day to day activity taking place in the factory is governed by the Factory Act 1948. This act extends to the whole of India including Jammu & Kashmir.
- 7. i) Where on ten or more workers are working, or were working on any day of the preceding twelve months, and in any part of which a manufacturing process is being carried on with the aid of power, or is ordinarily so carried on. ii) Where on, twenty or more workers are working, or were working on any day of the preceding twelve months, and in any part of which a manufacturing process is being carried on without the aid of power, or is ordinarily so carried on. It specifically excludes: A mine subject to the operation of the Mines Act, 1952, or a mobile unit belonging to the armed forces of the Union, a railway running shed or a hotel, restaurant or eating place. The main provision of the act are safety, guarding of machines, health and cleanliness, drinking water, washing and latrine facilities, lunch rooms and rest rooms, sitting arrangements, first aid and dispensary facilities in factories,
- 8. employing more than 500 workmen, crèches where more than 50 women are employed, welfare officer where more than 500 workmen are employed spittoons, holidays with wages at the rate of one day for every 20 days worked, weekly hours 48 for adults and 27 for younger persons, regulations regarding young persons, rate of payment for overtime work, rest for half an hour after maximum of 5 hours of work, number of hours of work, and weekly holiday. Since there are many changes and developments related to safety and health the need for effective implementations of various provisions duly amended have been felt. The ILO conventions have also necessitated the means for amendments in the Factory act. In order to study the administration, enforcement and implementation of Factory Act several Labour and employment statistics are collected by the central and state government and disseminated by the
- 9. labour bureau. With the help of these statistics we can analyze the current scenario of the implementation of the Factory Act, the employment position, the women workers employment with respect to their male counterparts, the hazardous processes, the number of fatal accidents, and the inspection being carried out along with prosecution and penalty and the safety measures undertaken. This puts out a picture for further development and enhancement related to all these parameters in the provisions mentioned in the Factory act and thus calls for amendments. Objectives of the study To study and analyse the trends in amendments of Factory Act since 1881. To study the various provisions, commissions, ILO conventions for workers including male female and children in the amended Factory Act.
- 10. To analyse the current scenarios of Factory Act using statistics by considering parameters such as distribution of industries, employment, factory accidents, nature of inspection, women employment. Need for the study There is very little research carried on India keeping the perspective of factory act as a whole. Formally the labour law of India covers only a very small percentage of the Indian workforce, and even among that cohort the law’s application in practice is lax to say the least. In a recent account of the trends in the regulation of working conditions in India it was suggested that there was a lack of in-depth historical research on the evolution of factory act and its amendments in India. Although there is a great amount of written material on Factory Act and associated topics, much of it is of a highly
- 11. fragmented nature, comprised of very short articles and notes on the very wide range of matters covered in India’s voluminous array of employment, social security and health. There are also a number of conventional texts and commentaries which are descriptive of the Factory act provisions. But a search of English language sources on Indian labour law reveals little by way of what might be regarded as a unified historical account of its evolution covering both central and provincial sources, and its relation to its political, social and economic contexts.