Discuss the wages and standard of living of industrial labor during the five year plans.
Discuss the wages and standard of living of industrial labor during the five year plans.
Ans.
Five Year Plans and Industrial labor
The real earnings of factory laborers increased by 22% between 1944 49 but they were still 7% below the pre-war level. Industry wise, the highest increase was recorded by chemicals and dyes and the lowest in the ordinance factories. Province-wise, workers gained the most in Orissa and the least in the Punjab. The per capita average annual money-earnings of workers earning less than Rs. 200 per month rose almost continuously over the entire period 1951-64 the level in 1964 being roughly 1.5 times that in 1951. Within this period, there was a rise of nearly 13% during 1951-55, 19% in the next five years (1955-60) but, during the next four years, 1960-64 average money earnings rose by a little less than 13%. Since the cost of living declined by 8.6% during 1951-55, there was an improvement of the order of 24% in the real earnings per worker. During 1955-60, the rise in the cost of living was about 29% and the real earnings showed a decline of about 8% when compared with 1955 although the level of real earnings in 1960 was still about 14%” above the 1951 level.
In 1961-62, the level of real earnings again picked up, but 1963 and 1964 witnessed a significant decline bringing the 1964 real wage level nearer to 1951. Thus, during 1951-64, real wages showed little improvement while in 1964, there was a substantial decline.
Maharashtra with Rs. 1684 and Andhra with Rs. 950 formed the two extremes between which the average annual earnings of workers getting less than Rs. 200 a month lay. Industry-wise, the earnings were the lowest in Jute textiles and highest in products of petroleum and coal.
The money wages of mine workers had almost doubled by 1961 though the increase in real wages was only 65%. In fact, but for the year 1953, real wages of mine workers were continuously rising and they reached the peak in 1963. Although the great rise in prices during 1964 led to their decline, yet they were 52.5% higher in 1964 as compared with 1951.
In plantations, the situation appeared to be somewhat better than in factory establishments. In ports and docks and in some sections of white collar employments also, workers secured some gains.
Family Budgets of Industrial labor: The average income of the workers being very small, a very high proportion of it was spent on food and other basic necessities of life. The enquiry into the cost and standard of living of plantation labor in South India (1948) showed that 95.7% of workers were getting less than 3,000 calories a day: 100% were getting less protein, 89.6% were getting less calcium and 47.8% were getting less iron than the required dose. The Economic Times, while comparing the position of textile workers in 1944 with that in 1959, found that percentage expenditure on food, demand for which is inelastic, increased in all centers in view of the rising prices in the country. There was no qualitative improvement either since at all centers, percentage expenditure on milk products, vegetables, sugar, sweets, tea and refreshments declined. Likewise; such conventional necessaries as pan and supari also showed a decline. Expenditure on recreation and amusement also fell.
Indebtedness of Industrial laborers: A very noticeable feature of the economic life of the industrial workers in India was that they were generally in debt. This fact was referred to by various labor committees and commissions which were set up from time to time. Recent enquiries (1959)) show that in Mumbai, 42,62% of the families were in debt ranging from Rs. 500-1000 while at Ahmedabad, the percentage was 32.72 and 20.37% of these were in debt ranging from Rs. 1000-2000.
Speaking of the causes of indebtedness, the Royal Commission on labor found that “many are born in debt” and expressed admiration for the son who “assumes responsibility for his father’s debt, an obligation which rests on religious and social but seldom on legal sanction.” The Rege Committee agreed that, in some cases, indebtedness was, no doubt, due to extravagance, vice and improvidence. But, according to the committee, “the root cause of the evil is the want of any margin left for meeting the expenditure of an unforeseen character. It is true that one of the maim causes of indebtedness is the expenditure incurred on marriage, funeral, etc. The worker is a part of a social organisation, and has perforce to conform to certain customary social standards even when he is not in a position to do so.”
