Report No. 62

1A.11. Amendment Act of 1959.-

History of the Amendment Act of 1959 is interesting. After independence, it was felt that the machinery established for the assessment and payment of compensation was slow-moving, and that the final settlement took a lot of time. In order to redress this situation, the Central Government in July 1949 addressed a letter to the State Governments inviting suggestions for ensuring speedy settlement of claims. In the light of the suggestions made, a memorandum showing the proposals for amending the Act was prepared. The memorandum was circulated in July 1953. Later on, a technical committee was appointed in December 1955 to suggest the amendment of the list of occupational diseases. The Act of 1959 was passed after a consideration of all this material. An amendment effected in 1962 raised the wage limit of the covered workman from Rs. 400 to Rs. 500 per month.