Pioneers in Indian Labour Studies, 1900–1930

The paper discusses the work of early Indian professional economists in the field of labour. They undertook wide-ranging studies of labour in factories, mines, and plantations as well as of the condition of rural and agricultural labour and of urban labour outside of industry. Between 1918 and 1930, a major body of work had emerged on Indian labour, with contributions by both Indian and foreign scholars. This work was mostly based on government data, but, in addition, and with telling effect, some scholars also conducted field investigations and came up with disquieting findings. The latter part of the paper examines the contributions of a British statistician-economist, George Findlay-Shirras, and of an Indian labour economist, Rajani Kanta Das. The former, despite some excellent work, was probably responsible for giving a misleading picture of rising agricultural wages, perhaps to suit the views of the colonial government. R.K. Das, through his extensive work on labour economics, before and during his service with the International Labour Organization (ILO), contributed much to the work of the Royal Commission on Labour (1931), but this went unacknowledged. Also, his work on plantation labour in India earned the ire of a British official in the department of industries and labour probably, for highlighting the negative role played by foreign (British) capital. Given his numerous substantive contributions to Indian labour economics, the paper concludes that R.K. Das should be given due recognition for his pioneering role in the development of labour economics in India.