Report No. 62

10.19. Legislative power to enact the amendment under consideration.-

Under the Constitution, the power to make a law for the "welfare of labour" is a concurrent one, and amongst the sub-heads of the power as mentioned1 in the relevant legislative entry, "workmen's compensation", is specifically mentioned. That sub-head is, obviously, wide enough to cover legislation relating to workmen connected with agricultural employment. There should, therefore, be no constitutional difficulty if an amendment by Parliamentary legislation is recommended and undertaken to extend the Act to such workman. In fact, entry 29 in the Second Schedule to the Act was amended in 1959, and the amendment illtistfates actual exercise of the power.

1. Constitution, 7th Schedule, Concurrent List, item 24.

10.20. Having taken the various aspects into consideration, we are making certain recommendations on the subject. If our recommendations are accepted, we trust that all the usual hazards of agriculture will be covered by a combined operation of the existing and new entries relevant to agricultural operations.