Royal Commission on Labour

The Commission was chaired by John Henry Whitley.

[1] The report surprised many by concurring with the criticisms of Mahatma Gandhi and others that poverty was the cause of India's social and industrial problems.

It was also critical of British employers' role in perpetuating the problems.

The Commission recommended the adoption of suitable legislation enabling the Competent Authority to collect and collate information regarding the living, working and socio-economic conditions of industrial labour.

[3] Whitley was offered a knighthood for his work on this report, but he declined.