During the colonial period in India, what was the purpose of the Whitley Commission?

The Whitley Commission in India was concerned with labour issues: its arrival in 1929 provoked strong responses from the trade-union movement, including calls to boycott the commission and disputes within the All-India Trade Union Congress, indicating the commission’s focus on workers and labour representation rather than constitutional or financial reforms [1]. The broader Whitley framework (Whitley Councils), established after a 1917 report in Britain, created negotiating machinery and joint employer‑employee councils — further linking the Whitley name to labour relations and recommendations on working conditions [2]. Contemporary summaries of the colonial-era question likewise list the commission’s purpose as reporting on existing conditions of labour and making recommendations.

Sources

1. [1] https://www.marxists.org/subject/india/ci/v09n70-dec-20-1929.pdf
2. [2] https://www.britannica.com/topic/civil-service/Conditions-of-service