It is a matter for gratification that the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Shri Yeshwantrao Chavan, is keen on improving industrial relations in Maharashtra and in creating an atmosphere of good will and co-operation which will enable the State to avoid strikes and other disturbances. He gave that objective a high place in the statement of policy that he issued on the birth of the new State and gave a call for industrial peace. He repeated the call in his latest policy statement in the Budget session of the Assembly and assured that he would take early steps to bring the two parties together. It is to be hoped that the matter will be pursued. Industries are bound to grow all over the new State of Maharashtra. During the five years 1955 to 1960 the number of registered factories in the State increased from 7,364 to 8,684 and the average number of workers working daily in factories from 6,62,811 to 7,18,851. The third Five-Year Plan will ensure a much faster rate of growth. If the growth is to lead to all-round development and not to create tensions and problems it will be necessary to pay particular attention to the development of healthy industrial relations. They cannot be realised through the banning of strikes or by the adoption of similar coercive measures. What they need is a sympathetic understanding of the difficulties and problems of labour and an expeditious method for their ventilation and redress. If they become readily available, workers will not think of strikes which they know are a double-edged weapon which inflict as much harm upon them as upon employers.
“It is unthinkable that the universities of the present day, wherever they may be, can function without reference to the realities that exist around them. I would, therefore, emphasise that the university students should be fully sensitive to the happenings around them and react constructively and helpfully to these happenings."
—Shri Y. B. Chavan