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Explain the machinery for prevention and settlement of industrial disputes in India.
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After Independence, Government of India passed the Industrial Disputes Act 1947, under which machinery for the prevention and settlement of disputes has been outlined. These provisions are as under:
(A) Machinery for Prevention of Industrial Disputes— Prevention is better than cure. The Government has incorporated in the Act for preventing the disputes. The main purpose of such measures is to prevent the disputes before they arise.
(B) Machinery for Settlement of Disputes—If-the dispute could not be prevented on voluntary basis and do arise, the Industrial Disputes Act 1947 provides several provisions for settling the disputes, such provisions arc:
(1) Conciliation Officer—'The appointment of conciliation officer is made by the State Government for a particular region or industries in the state. The main duly of these officers is to bring the two parties together and help them resolve their differences. They can do everything to settle the dispute between the two parties amicably. He is bound to lake decision within 14 days or such period as extended by the state Government from the date of registration of dispute. If the dispute is settled through his good offers and an agreement is reached, he should send a report to the government along with a memorandum of settlement' signed by the parties to the dispute. In case, the dispute is not settled he should inform the Government about his failure, steps taken and the reasons for not being successful.
(2) Conciliation Board—In case, the conciliation officer fails to resolve the dispute, the Government appoints a board of conciliation on ad hoc basis for a particular dispute consisting of a chairman and two to four persons representing the Employer and the employees lo bring the parties to disputes to sit together and thrash out their differences as referred to by the Government. The board reports the Government about the success or failure to bring about a settlement within 2 months from the date of reference of the dispute.
(3) Court of Inquiry—Whenever an industrial dispute remains unresolved by the conciliation officer and the board of conciliation, the matter is referred to a court of inquiry. The court may consist of one 01 more independent persons. It will investigate the whole dispute and submits its report to the Government on the matters referred to it ordinarily within 6 months from the date of commencement of inquiry.
If settlement is not arrived at by the efforts of the above machinery, a three-tier machinery for compulsory adjudication is provided under the act. These are three types of semi-judicial bodies, i.e., labour courts, industrial tribunals and National Tribunals.
(4) Labour Courts—Such courts have been set up by the state Governments to go into the disputed orders of the employers dismissal, discharge and suspensions of employees by the management, legality or otherwise of any order passed by an employer under the standing order, withdrawal of any concession or privilege, legality or otherwise of any strike or lockout etc. These courts will award decision and send report to the Government.
(5) Industrial Tribunals—The state Government has been empowered to appoint as many industrial tribunals as it thinks proper, for the adjudication of disputes selecting to wages, hours of work and rest, intervals, leave with pay, holidays, compensatory discipline, retrenchment, Closure of establishment etc. The tribunal will consist of a person of rank of a high court judge. The adjudication of these tribunals is binding on both the parties.
(6) National Tribunal—Such tribunals are set up by the Central Government for the adjudication of industrial disputes which involves questions of national importance or which affect industrial establishments situated in more than one state. It gives decisions on matters referred to it by the Central Government. If any matter is referred to the National Tribunal by the Central Government, the labour courts and industrial courts are barred from entertaining such disputes and if any such dispute is pending before labour courts or tribunals, shall be deemed to be quashed.
