Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 1993, publiée 80ème session CIT (1993)

Convention (n° 1) sur la durée du travail (industrie), 1919 - Inde (Ratification: 1921)

The Committee notes the information in the Government's report, in reply to its earlier observation. In particular, it notes that Chapter XIV of the Railways Act, 1989, contains the main rules for the working time of railroad personnel. The Committee requests the Government to furnish a copy of the provisions contained in Chapter XIV. It further notes that the Government has initiated action to frame rules and subsidiary instructions in accordance with these provisions. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed about all progress in establishing rules and subsidiary instructions.

The Committee also takes note of the circular dated 13 April 1992 addressed to the general managers of the All Indian Railways, in which statutory hours of work for "essentially intermittent" work are set to 75 hours per week. The Government has supplied no information on consultations with the organizations of employers and workers concerned before the adoption of these work schedules. The Committee would like to underline the importance of such consultations required under Article 6, paragraph 2, of the Convention and trusts that the Government will not fail to engage in such consultations when establishing work schedules for workers performing preparatory, complementary and essentially intermittent work.

In this connection, the Committee notes the comments of the "Central Railway Mazadoor Sangh" requesting eight-hour shifts for cabinmen, levermen, pointsmen and gatemen. The Government indicates that their work was classified to be "essentially intermittent", with periods of inaction aggregating to six hours or more in a tour of 12 hours of duty. However, the Central Railway Mazadoor Sangh claims that they were servicing approximately 20 to 40 trains in 12 hours, i.e. a traffic ten times more important than it was when the British rules were adopted. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would make available to it the results of the most recent job analysis concerning this group of workers.

Finally, the Committee notes, further to its previous observation, that the Government will soon take a decision in reply to the observations of the "Bharatiya Mazadoor Sangh" organization, which considered the special provisions contained in Article 10 of the Convention to be discriminatory against India, and invited the Government to consider denouncing the Convention or to take an initiative aimed at revising it.