CENTRAL STEFARJAT LIBRA...
274 Government of India,
REGISTERED No. D - 28
The Gazette
of India
EXTRAORDINARY
PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY
NEW DELHI , WEDNESDAY , AUGUST 31 , 1949 .
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF LABOUR
NOTIFICATION
New Delhi , the 30th August 1949
No. LR - 2 ( 212 ) / I . In puunquance of Section 17 of the Industrial Disputes Act , 1947 ( XIV of 1947) the Central Government is pleased to publish the following iterin award of the All India Industrial Tribunal ( Bank Disputes ) , in the industrial dispute regarding interim relief , between certain banking companies and their employees in the Unted Provinces .
THE ALL - INDIA INDUSTRIAL TRIBUNAL ( BANK DISPUTES ) ,
ADJUDICATION
BETWEEN
1. The National Bank of India , Ltd. ,
2. The Chartered Bank of India , Australia and ( 'hina ,
8. The Allahabad Bank Ltd ,
4. The Punjab National Bank Ltd ,
5. The Central Bank of India , Ltd ,
6. The Hindustan Commercial Bank Ltd. ,
7 The BharatBank Ltd
8 The New Benk of Th
9. The Gadodia Bank Ltd ,
10 The United Commercial Bank Ltd,
11. The Hindustan Mercantile Bank Ltd ,
12 Dass Bank Ltd ,
13. The Comilla Banking Corporation Ltd
14 Nath Bank Ltd ,
15 Caleutta National Bank Ltd ..
16 Jwala Bank Ltd ,
17 Noakhali Bank Ltd.
18 'The Sonar Bangla Bank Ltd ,
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THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY , AUG 31 1919
19. Bauk of Behar Ltd ,
20. The Aryan Bank Ltd ,
21. The United Provinces Union Bank Ltd ,
22. The Traders Bank Ltd ,
23. The Bank of Sarpu Ltd ,
24 The Central Calcutta Bank Ltd ,
AND
Their employees
In the matter of an industrial dispute regarding the grant of Inteun Relief to employees of Banking Companies in the United Provinces
PRI SEN'T
Mr. K. C Sen , Chairman
Mr. J. N Majundan , Member
APPEARANCES
Mr J. N. Meluoha for the UP Bank Emplovees ' Union ,
Mr K. K Biswas for the Comilla Banking Corporation Ltd
Mr Alov Izat for the Allahabad Bank Ltd ,
Mr. AC Bhat for the Bank of Bohar Ltd ,
Mr R. N Seth for Banks Nos 1 , 2 , 4 , 6 , 7 , 11 and 23
Mr B. T. Thakur for the United Commercial Bank Ltd
Messrs . BN Khanna and Devtre for the Central Bank of India Ltd , Mr. SK Sen Gupta for the Nath Banl Ltd
Mr W. D Grover for the Gadodia Bank Ltd
AWARD
PART I
These proceedings have been necessitated owing to an industrial dispute between 40 Banks in the United Provinces and their employees which mos in 1940 and which was originally referred by the Government of the United Provinces to the adjudication of the late Mr BB Singh , ICS , the then Labour Coinmissioner of the Province, under jul 81A of the Defence of Inde Rules Thirteen specific issues were referred by the Provincial Government to Mr Singh , two of which are relevant to the present proceedings , 12 ( 1) What should be the minimum salary and inde for different categories of hank employees , ( a) clerks , cashiers , and money testers ( b ) peons and chow ki- dars , and ( c) head clerks , supervisors and paumental in - charges and (2) What dearness allowaner should be given to ( n) clerks cashiers , and money- testers , and (b) pen and chowkidam " His decisions on these issues wer as following-
Scales of pay-
(1) Clerks , ashiet and money testors .
Class ' A' Banks-
(1) Upper grade (for graduates ) Rs . 75-5-120- Е.В.- 8-200 , (2) Lower grado (for under - graduates ) Rs 60-1100 - E B 5-150, 276
THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY , AUG. 31 , 1949 1509
Class ' B ' Banks-
(1 ) Upper grade ( for graduates ) Rs . 60-1-100 - Е.В.-5-150 ,
(2) Lower grade ( for under - graduates ) Rs . 60-3-90-4-110 ,
Class ' C ' Banks-
( 1) Upper grade (for graduates ) Rs . 60-3-90-4-110 ,
(2 ) Lower grade ( for under -graduates ) Rs . 50-2-60-3-75 .
(B) Peons and chowkidars-
Class ' A' Banks-Rs . 25-1-35 ,
Class ' B ' Banks Rs . 25-1-30 ,
Class ' C ' Banks Rs . 2025 .
(C ) Head clerks , supervisors and Departmental in - charges-
' A' Class Banks Rs . 120-8-200-10-300 ,
' B ' Class Banks Rs . 75-5-120-8-200 ,
' C ' Class Banks Rs . 75-5-120-6-150 .
Dearness allowance-
' A' Class Banks- 30 per cent . of basic salary with a minimum of Rs . 25 and a maximum of Rs . 50 per mensem ,
' B ' Class Banks-25 per cent . of basic salary with a minimum of Rs . 20 and a maximum of Rs . 378 per men- sem,
' C ' Class Banks- 25 per cent . of basic salary with a minimum of Rs . 18 and a maximum of Rs . 278 per mensem ,
Peons and chowkidars a uniform rate of 16 per mensem .
This award was made on the 11th March 1947. By an order dated the 15th March 1947 the Provincial Government made an order enforcing the award and declaring it to be binding on the parties for a period of six months in the first instance . By later orders the life of the said award has been further extended .
2. Soon after the award had been made difficulties began to arise between . the parties as to its interpretation and implementation . The local Government and the Labour Commissioner had to issue orders from time to time to clarify parts of the award and some of the Banks accepted them while others did not . Matters came to such a pass that the local Government launched prosecutions against some officials of certain Banks . On the 31st July 1948 the local Govern- ment appointed a Conciliation Board under sec . 3 of the United Provinces Industrial Disputes Act , 1947 ( No. XVIII of 1947) , consisting of Mr. R. S. Nimbkar as the Chairman , Messrs . H. C. Captain and B. T. Thakur of the Central Bank and the United Commercial Bank Ltd. respectively and two other members representing the emp'oyees . Mr. Nimbkar died in October 1948, after which Mr. Justice Bind Basni Prasad of the Allahabad High Court was appoint- ed in his place . The Board drew up 106 specific issues one of which , viz . , No. 39 , was as follows : " Whether the rate of dearness allowance , recommended in the Award , should be revised ? If so , what should be the rate ? Should it be related to the Kanpur cost of fiving inder ? " Out of the 106 issues 64 were concerned with questions of clarification of Mr. Singh's award and the remain- ing 42 with matters regarding which a revision of the said award was demanded 1510 THE GAZETTE OF. INDIA EXTRAORDINARY , AUG . 31 , 1049
by one or the other of the parties . By an order dated the 15th February 1948 the U.P. Government required the Board to submit an interim report relating to the issues as to clarihcation only . Accordingly a report was submitted on the 17th February 1949 asto the 64 issues of this character , but issue No. 39 not being an issue as to clarihcation of the award was not enquired into by the Board . The report was signed by the Chairman , and Messrs . Captam and Thakur agreed with him as regards his findings on certain issues and dis- agreed with him as to the remaining issues . They submitted a separate report of their own to the Provincial Government . The other two members , Messrs . Tiwari and Arora , agreed with the Chairman in his findings on the majority of the issues and partially agreed with his findings on certain other issues . On the 18th April 1949 the Chairman's report was published and the Banks concerned were asked to comply with the terms of the said report . On the 30th April 1949 the Central Government promulgated the Industrial Disputes (Banking and Insurance Companies) Ordmance ( No. VI of 1949) . On the 13th June 1949 the Central Government constituted this Industrial Tribunal for adjudication of industrial disputes in banking companies and on the same day issued an order referring to it a dispute between the banking companies mentioned in Schedule I thereto in respect of matters specified in Schedule II thereto annexed . Items 1 and 3 of the said Schedule II are respectively as regards scales of pay and dearness allowance . On the 22nd May 1949 the employees of most of the Banks in the United Provinces served on their res- pective managements notices of a strike to be held on the 21st June 1949 in case the demands made by them were not satisfied . Along with other demands the said employees put forward a claim for interim relief . On the 17th and the 18th June 1949 a conference was held by the Chief Labour Commissioner (Central ) at Patra at which representatives of the Banks and of the U.P. Bank Employees ' Union were present . The employees ' repicsentatives first said that they would not agree to the terms suggested by the Chief Labour Commis- sioner ( Central ) , and later on agreed to the following :-
(1) that a recommendation should be made to Government to request this Tribunal to take up the point of Interim Relief to the U.P. Bank employees to be decided by the said Tribunal within a month;
(2) that the parties would maintain status quo as provided by law ;
(3) that in the case of Head Cashiers , Chief Cashiers and Treasurers ' representatives , they would get Rs . 10 per month more than what they are getting plus Rs . 10 per month for every additional cashier under such an employee ; and
(1) that the Bank employees would not resort to any strike pending adjudication regarding the Interim Re'ief . ,
Accordingly , by a letter dated the 6th July 1919 the Central Government have sent a copy of the report of the said Conference for information and such action as the Tribunal may consider appropriate .
3. Of the 40 Banks dealt with in Mr. B. B. Singh's award and by the Conciliation Board 16 Banks have no branches or other estiblishments outside , the United Provinces and , therefore , the dispute relating to those 16 Banks must be regarded as outside the jurisdiction of this Tribuna , because the Govern- ment notification dated the 13th June 1949 restricts our jurisdiction to indus- trial disputes in " banking companies " , and the expression banking company means , under clause (bb ) of section 2 of the Industrial Disputes Act 1947 as amended by the Industrial Disputes (Banking and Insurance Companies) 278
0. THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY , AUG . 31 , 1949 1611
Ordinance , 1940 , " a banking company as defined in section 5 of the Banking Commpame , Act , 1949 ( No. X of 1949) having branches or other establishments in imore than one Province and mcludes the Imperial Bank of India " . , Notices worm accordingly , issued to the remaming 24 Banks with the dispute of which this Tabunal is empowered to deal and the following Banks appeared before the Tribunal m its proceedings held the 4th and the 5th August 1949 at Lucknow- on
(1) The Comilla Banking Corporation Ltd. ,
( 2) Allahabad Bank Ltd. ,
(3) Bank of Behar Ltd. ,
(4) Punjab National Bank Ltd. ,
(5) The Bharat Bank Ltd. ,
(6 ) Hindustan Mercantile Bank Ltd ,
(7) United Commercial Bank Ltd. ,
(8) Hindustan Commercial Bank Ltd. ,
(9 ) The Chartered Bank of India , Australia and China ,
(10 ) The National Bank of India Ltd. ,
(11 ) The Bank of Jaipur Ltd. ,
(12) The Contral Bank of India Ltd. ,
(13 ) Contral Calcutta Bank Ltd. ,
( 11) Nath Bank Ltd. ,
(15 ) Gadodia Bank Ltd. ,
Shortly before the proceedings commenced a telegram was received from Central Government to the effect that Mr. S. P. Varma , one of the Members of the Tribunal , was goingto resign , and he was , therefore , absent at Lucknow . The Chauman and the other Member ( Mr. J. N. Majumdar) who were present found that Mr. Varma's absence could be regarded as a cusual vacancy within the meaning of rule 12 of the Industrial Disputes ( Contral) Rules 1947 , and on the partios boing asked whether they had any objection to the Tribunal's acting in the absenco of Mr. Vanna , they gave a written statement intimating thor consent as required by the said snile .
4. The statemout of the clamus of the employees is to the effect that at the date of Mr. Singh's award ( March 1947) the cost of living index figure in to United Provinces was about 330 whereas a few months ago it went up to 550 , that this excessive increase in the cost of living has caused great hardship to the employees , that the Conciliation Board would have revised the award of Mr. Singh but for the action of the United Provinces Government in asking that only issues as to clarification should be decided , that the einoluments of the employees of the Banks in the United Provinces are generally lower than those an other provinces , that certain Banks which have branches outside the provmco have increased such emoluments for the employees working in such branches , though they have not done so m their establishments and branches within the province , and that the Tribunal should give an interim reliof at the flat rate of Rs . 50 por month to every employee exclusivo of his present emolu- ments , with retrospective effect from August 1948. It will be noticed that in thus statement the demand regarding Head Cashiers , Chief cushiers and 'Treasurers ' ropresentatives which was made at the Conference at Patna in Jume last , has been dropped For other reasons also wo do not think that the said demand is a fit subject for enquiry in an ad interim adjudication such as the present . Mr. Singh mhis award did not use any of the nomenclatures Head cashier , Chief cashier or Tonsumers ' ropresentatives in the grades fixed by him , 1512 THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY , AUG . 31 , 1949
== and we think that the task of ascertaming in which grade such employees be placed ought properly to be tackled m the main enquiry encime 12.0 and not in the present proceedings .
5. The demand for a flat increase of Rs . 50 over the present emoluments is based largely , it not wholly , on the argument that the cost of living index number has increased very greatly smce March 1917. As such the demand should . in our opinion , be regarded as a demand for increase over the dearness allowance allowed by Mr. Singh in his award . The representatives of the Union , however , have argued that the demand is justified by other grounds also , for instance , demands in respect of the employees ' children and for house- rent allowance which were not granted by Mr. Singh ; one other ground being that an increase in the emoluments has been granted by several Banks in respect of branches situated outside the province . They have also referred to the great delay that has been caused in deciding the matter by preventing the Conciliation Board from going into the question . There may be something in these argu- ments but we are satisfied that the present dispute before us is essentially a demand for increase in the dearness allowance granted by Mr. Singh and we shall treat it as such .
6. On behalf of the Banks it has been contended that as the Tribunal is shortly going to inquire exhaustively and comprehensively into a number of questions relating to the dispute between the Banks and their employees including the question of dearness allowance , there is no special urgency in the issue now sought to be raised , particularly as it is undesirable to have piece- meal adjudications of the nature demanded , and that if interim relief as asked for is now granted by the Tribunal it would give rise to similar demands from other provinces also . The spokesmen for the Banks have also stressed the fact that the scales of pay and dearness allowance to which the employees of the Provincial Government are entitled are not higher but lower than what the Bank employees are getting under the award . The grades of pay of the c'erical establishment in the Government offices in the United Provinces will be found set out in paragraph 10 of Mr. Singh's award ; in particular , it is pointed out that whereas under the award as modified by the report of the Conciliation Board a Bank employee is entitled to an overtime allowance, in accordance with the provisions of the United Provinces Shops and Commercial Establishments Act 1947 , no such alowance is admissible to Government servants . It has also been stated that as a matter of fact most of the Banks concerned have actually been giving more basic pay or dearness allowance or both than that directed by the award.and that in a large number of cases regula: annual bonuses are being paid to the employees owing to the increased cost of living , although m some instances it has not been possible to pay the shareholders any dividends m recent years . Instances of such payments in excess of the award have been cited before us in the case of the Bharat Bank Ltd. , the Central Bank of India Ltd. , the National Bank of India Ltd. , the Punjab National Bank , the Al'ahabad Bank Ltd. and the United Commercial Bank . All the Banks , it has further been pointed out , are suffering from decreased deposits and consequently decreased profits , while their wage - bills have been progressively increasing in recent years . It has been strenuously contended that without going into the question of the Banks ' capacity to pay , a question which will have to be gone into at the time of the main proceedings of the Tribunal , it world be improper to give any increase on the employees ' present emoluments in these proceedings , particularly as it wou'dbe very difli- cult to recover any part of such ' increase , should it be ultimately found that excessive emoluments have been granted in the present proceedings . On enquiry we have found that a very large number of emp'oyees have been taking advances from their provident fund accounts and that it would not be feasible 231
THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY , AUG . 31 , 1949 1513
in every case , if ultimately a refund out of any emoluments that may be now granted is to be made , to direct that the employees ' shares of the contributions to the provident funds should be used as security for the said purpose . Lastly , certain Banks have raised the question whether the U. P. Bank Emp'oyees Unio can be regarded as representative of the general body of Bank employees throughout the province .
7. Taking the last question first, we find that throughout the proceedings since 1946 the said Union has been treated both by Mr. Singh and the Concilia- tin Board as well as by the Provincial Government as an important Union . It seems that the said Union was allowed to argue the case on behalf of the employees before Mr. Singh as well as before the Conciliation Board . The Board has stated that on behalf of the employees written statements were filed by the U. P. Bank Employees ' Union as well as by some branches of the said Union . 26 representatives of the employees attended the proceedings before the Board and all of them were members of the said Union ; and the Board has recorded the fact that no employee repudiated the representative character of the Union In the present proceedings we do not think it neces- sary or expedient to go into the question whether the Union represents the majority of the employees in the province , and we have regarded their argu- ments and representations as those made on behalf of the whole body of the Bank employees of the province .
8. The employees can succeed in their demand for interim relief only if they can show that the cost of living has gone up so greatly since the date of Mr. Singh's award that it is imperative at the present stage that the Tribunal should give them immediate relief without waiting for the final adjudication . We have tried to get the cost of living index figures for the United Provinces but neither party has been able to procure them . The cost of living index figures for the whole of India used to be compiled sometime ago but it is not clear if they are published now. The only place in the province relating to which we find that the cost of living index figures have been published regularly is Kanpur . At page 185 ( paragraph 136) of the First Report of the United Provinces Labour Enquiry Committee it is stated , " The dearness allowances in the United Pro- vinces are at present worked out on the basis of the Kanpur cost of living index . " A question arises whether the figures for Kanpur may be taken as roughly representing the cost of living index figures for the whole province . In our opinion it would , on the whole , be safe to regard the Kanpur figures as fairly representing the cost of living , and the increases therein , at the following big towns of the province , viz . , Lucknow , Agra , Meerut , Bareilly . Kanpur , Banaras and Gorakhpur . The cost of living indices for these towns from 1939 to 1947 are to be found at pages 546 to 552 of the First Report of the United Provinces Labour Enquiry Committee , 1946-48 . For other places the increase in the cost of living since March 1947 will appear to be , and in our opinion may be taken to be , somewhat lower . At pages 222-23 of the said Report the industrial units , excluding banks , in the province have been divided into three categories for the purposes of granting dearness allowance . For the purposes of the present proceedings , however , we think that the two categories we have indicated would suffice namely , the seven cities named above and all other places in the province with the proviso that for purposes of dearness allowance non - sch - duled Banks and Banks which have been incurring Jesses during the last two or three vears should be placed in the lower category , wherever they mav be situated . 'The published figures of cost of living indices for Kanpur are for " working classes " ; and though the majority of Bank emplovees belong to what are known as the middle classes , we think that no great injustice would be done if we rely in these proceedings on the said published figures . In March 1947 the cost of living index figure for Kanpur was 341 , the average for the year being 378. In 1514 THE GAZETTE OF INDIA . EXTRAORDINARY , AUG. 31 , 1919
Soptember 1948 the index figure rose up to 558. Thereafter there has been a decline and in April 1949 it was 468 , after which there has been some increase in May (487) and June (487) . In our opinion it can be very well presumed that when Mr. Singh made his award he did not exclude the possibility of the cost of living index figure going up to a somewhat higher figure than 341. As the average for the year was 378 we may take 880 as roughly representing the maximum figure up to which the doarnoss allowance recommended by Mr. Singh was intended to apply . For 1949 we have got the cost of living indices for only half the year , but we may , we think , for our purposes take a figure like 475 as sufficiently representative of the cost of living for the whole year. The interim relief , if anv , to be granted would of course be meant to remain operative only for the next few months The figure 380 which we have taken for the vear 1947 represents an increase of 280 points over the basic figure of 100 , so that it er be said that what was recommended as dearness allowance by Mr Singh corresponds to a rise of 280 points over the 1930 level . Similarly the figure 475 which we have taken as representing the cost of living for 1949 represents an increase of 375 over the basic 100 The increase , therefore , in 1949 over the post-1930 rise in the cost of living attained at the time of the award would roughly be 384 per cent . This appears to be so substantial an increase that in our opinion some immediate relief to the employees is called for, the necessity for such rehof outweighing the considerations that have been urged on behalf of the Banks . This is indicated further by the fact , which was admitted , that there have been a very large number of withdrawals by employees from their provident fund accounts . We , therefore award an increase of 331 per cent over the dearness allowance which the employees are entitled to draw under Mr Singh's award in the case of Banks situated in the seven cities of Lucknow , Agra , Meerut , Bareilly , Kanpur , Banaras and Gorakhpur . From this rule we would except the non - scheduled Banks and Banks whose balance - sheets , which have been audited by duly qualified auditors , show a loss for the last 2 years For such Banks as well as for Banks situated in places other than the seven citi's named above we award an increase of 25 per cent . over the dearness allowance allowed under Mr Singh's award would be justified . From this inerens certain deductions will have to be made , viz . , any increase over the basic pav or dearnoss allowance fixed by Mr Singh's award which has been paid by any Bank, and , where a Bank has not paid any dividend to its shareholders in 1949 , any bonus which has been paid to the employces , in respect of the period covered by the present Award , or any part thereof ; in the latter case it can be presumed that the bonus has been given mainly with the object of alleviating the sufferings of the employees due to the increased cost of living Finally , we would direct that in applving the above rules the maxima ก ท minima laid down in paragraph 17 of Mr Singh's award should be disregard 1 and that any cumployee who has been ro civing higher pav or pov in a better prode or higher allowances , than are now awarded should continue to receive the same
9 The next question that arises is with effect hom what date should the increased emoluments now directed to be paid he given ? The Union has askel for retrospective effect of our award from August 1948 The Banks however have contended that as this is an interim award it should operate with effet from the date of the reference made by the Central Government' The dispute a to interim relief however , has been in existence for a considerable time , but view of the fact that our directions are of a tentative character and are liable to be modified in our final award , we think that we should be justified if we made our directions onerative with effect from the 1st January 1949 , and we drect accordingly . We further direct thatt he arrears of pay and dearness allowance dus under this award upto the date on which it comes into operation hall be paid within two months from such dato , 282
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AUG . 31 , 1949 THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY
10. At the hearing wo were informed by the employees that some 12 Banks which havo branches or head offices in the province had not been given notices of these proceedings . Their names are: 1. Bank of Baroda , Ltd. , 2. The Bank of Sirmur , 3 The Punjab and Sindh Bank Ltd. , 4. The Hind Bank Ltd. , 5. Habib Bank Ltd. , 6. Narang Bank Ltd. , 7. Bank of Bikaner Ltd. , 8 Comilla Union Bank Ltd. , 9. Oriental Bank of Commerce , 10. Prabhat Bank Ltd. , 11. National Savings Bank Ltd. , and 12. Banaras State Bank Ltd. None of these Banks was a partyto the adjudication proceedings before Mr. Singh or to the proceedings before the Conciliation Board . We think that we have Jurisdiction to deal with the dispute regarding interim relief as to those Banks also and , accordingly , while we propose to confine the award given in this part (Part I) to the Benks already on the record and their employees , we propose to issue fresh notices to the 12 new Banks mentioned above as well as to their employees and decide the question of interim relief as regards such Banks as early as possible . The award in respect of such Banks will form part II of this award .
Bomba) , 20th August 1949
( Sd . ) K. C. SEN , Chairmanı , (Sd . ) J. N. MAJUMDAR , Member .
ORDER
New Delhi , the 30th August 1919
LB -2 (212) / II .-- Whereas by an Order of the Central Government in the Ministry of Labour No LR - 2 (212) , dated the 13th June 1949 , the industrial dispute between banking companies and their employees was referred to the All India Industrial Tribunal (Bank Disputes ) for adjudication ;
And whereas the interim award of the said Tribunal regarding the grant of interim relief to employees of Banking Companies in the United Provinces has been published by the Central Government in a notification of the Ministry of Labour No. 1R - 2 (212 ) / I , dated the 30th August 1949 ;
is Now, therefore in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 15 and 19 of the Industrial Disputes Act ,1947 ( XIV of 1947) , the Central Government pleased to direct that the said interim award shall be binding for a period of one year from the 25th August 1949 or till the final award in respect of the dispute is accepted by the Government , whichever is carlier
K. N. SUBRAMANIAN , Jt . Secy .
PUBLISHED BY THE MANAGER OF PUBLICATIONS , DELFTI , INDIA PRINTED BY THE MANAGEE , GOVERNMENT OF INDIA PRESS , NEW DELHI , INDIA