ABSTRACT
The political and socioeconomic conditions in India have a bearing on the perpetuation of the situation. It is therefore necessary to examine the political and economic situation in India from a historical perspective. The whole question of worker health is treated in a paternalistic manner by the Indian industrial enterprises. This is mainly because of the peculiar socioeconomic organization of the country’s population. Medical colleges and general educational institutions have to start offering courses in occupational medicine, toxicology, biomechanics, occupational safety, safety engineering, human factors engineering, environmental health, ecology, and the economics of health. The report of the Textile Factories Labor Committee of 1907 stated that the health of women was being injured by night work in over 1,000 ginning mills in India. The same report described the intolerable living conditions of the workers as follows: The conditions can only be described as deplorable.
