Modern Industrial Relations in India

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Modern Industrial Relations in India A study of modern industrial relations in India can be made in three distinct phases. The first phase can be considered to have commenced from about the middle of the nineteenth century and ended by the end of the First World War. The second phase comprises the period thereafter till the attainment of the independence in 1947, and the third phase represents the post-independence era. First Phase : During the first phase, the British Government in India was largely interested in enforcing penalties for breach of contract and in regulating the conditions of work with a view to minimising the competitive advantages of indigenous employers against the British employers. A series of legislative measures were adopted during the latter half of the nineteenth century, which can be the beginning of industrial relations in India. The close of the First World War gave a new twist to the labour policy, as it created certain social, economic and political conditions, which raised new hopes among people for a new social order. There was intense labour unrest because workers’ earnings did not keep pace with the rising prices and with their aspirations. The establishment of ILO in 1919 greatly influenced the labour legislation and Industrial relations policy in India. The emergence of trade unions in India, particularly the formation of All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) in 1920 was another significant event in the history of industrial relations in our country. Second Phase : The Policy after the First World War related to improvement in the working conditions and provision of social security benefits. It was a period of boom for employers. With rising prices, their profits went up enormously.

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