Figure Watch

Resting labour
There might be slowdown in industrial growth, but the good news is that so is the industrial unrest. The number of mandays lot due to strikes and lock outs have declined by 7.9 per cent from 20.44 million in 1993-94 to 18.83 million in 1996-97. The figures for the first two quarters of 1997-98 were lower than the previous years corresponding period, indicating a negative trend for last year.

This was mainly due to improvement in labour relations in industries such as cotton, jute, engineering, chemical, non-coal mining and rubber. Between 1993-96, industrial unrest was mainly in Andhra, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Gujarat. State and Central Governments seem to have become better at handling and reconciling industrial disputes, says the Economic Survey which released the figures.