Wages in India

The primary goal of wage policy in India, as in other developing countries, should be the promotion of economic development. If economic development has been meagre and all-round progress stunt ed, one of the reasons might well have been the failure of wage policy to contribute adequately to the process of economic development. Consequently, in judging the success or otherwise of the wage policy pursued so far, an important indicator is the state of the country's economy as it

has developed all these years. An economically backward country, the population of which has been increasing at an alarming rate, needs to feed the millions of mouths that come into existence year after year. That responsi bility is apt sometimes to sit lightly on Governments weighed down with numerous cares and preoccupations, but it is one that no Government can afford to ignore for any length of time. The periodical crises on the food front, despite our much-advertised preoccupation with procurement, buffer stocks, and fair price shops, are ample proof that our arrangements for feeding the people

leave much to be desired. Some of the most frightful revolutions in history have had their origin in hunger. Carlyle writes of the French Revolution: ". the hungry poor are already burning Town Barriers, where Tribute on eatables is levied; getting clamorous for food." There was then, as now, no dearth of political haranguing, but all the eloquence of popular leaders, even "the lion-voice of Mirabeau," was drown ed in cries of "Bread, not so much discoursing". Carlyle comments sarcastically: "So insensible were these poor creatures to bursts of parliamentary eloquence". The only telling answer to hunger is food; not clever arguments, brilliant speeches or touching appeals

Today India's 625 millions, whom we can feed only with the greatest of difficulties, will cross the 1000 million mark before the turn of the century. There have been several instances of food riots and violent demonstrations against exorbitant prices in recent times in widely-scattered parts of the country. There has also been at least one instance of a serious revolt by the forces of law and order in an important State.
This book, which deals largely with the practical problems of wages, is addressed primarily to the principal actors in the drama of collective bargaining, namely, workers and their unions, em ployers and their associations, and Governments and their agencies. One would also hope that the book would be found useful in other quarters too, particularly universities, where appreciation of the practical aspects of wage problems should prove advantageous at an early stage in the pur suit of higher studies. The book has grown in size for two deliberate reasons. First, we are still in the process of experi mentation and change in the field of labour-management relations. No important policy or pro cedure in respect of wages has really got crystallized on a securely acceptable basis. Ideas and suggestions are still in a state of flux and are bound to chop and change as a result of the pulls and pressures in tripartite negotiations and bargaining. It would, therefore, not be proper for an author to present cut and dried solutions to difficult problems as if they were final and beyond challenge. It has, therefore, been my intention, and hope, that the reader will argue out problems for himself, reject what he considers unsuitable, and accept or evolve what he thinks appropriate or advantageous. For this purpose every effort has been made to provide him with as much back ground material as possible. Secondly, brief extracts from the recommendations contained in the more important Government reports having a bearing on the points under discussion have been included in the text as the general reader often experiences considerable difficulty in gaining access to them.