Report No. 134

3.6. Modification of the provision pertaining to making of advances to dependants of a deceased workman.-

Under the proviso to sub-section (1) of section 8, an employer is authorised to make advances on account of compensation to a dependant of a deceased workman not exceeding an aggregate of one hundred rupees. This limit was introduced in the Act of 1923 more than sixty years back. It is of little use to make an advance of a petty sum of one hundred rupees in the context of the steep fall in the value of the rupee on account of inflation in the course of the last six decades. An upward revision of the existing upper limit of Rs. 1000 is, therefore, clearly and urgently called for.

Instead of recommending that advances up to a higher specified amount may be made by the employer to the dependants, it appears to us more appropriate to recommend that an amount up to three months' wages should be permitted to be advanced to the dependants so that upward revision from time to time may not be necessitated. It is absolutely necessary to make such a provision with urgency, for the plight of the dependants of the deceased workman can be readily envisioned. They would be in dire straits and in need of urgent relief in the wake of the sudden and tragic loss of the bread-winner. We, therefore, recommend that section 8(1) should be amended accordingly.