64 SOCIAL SCIENTIST function, bonus has now come to be regarded as a right of employees under certain circumstances". The Bonus Act, 1965, which was expected to eradicate all difficulties and set at rest various controversies regarding the very concept of bonus has in fact become a retrograde piece of legislation, because it took away many of the rights which the workers enjoyed before its legislation. Since 1965 the working class has been restive and their sustained struggle on this vital issue forced the Government to appoint a Bonus Review Committee. The Committee has already submitted an Interim Report. Announcing the decisions on the Interim Report of the Bonus Review Committee, the Government of India stated that: 2.1) The statutory minimum of the bonus payable to the workers covered by the payment of Bonus Act may be raised from 4 per cent to 8.33 per cent for the accounting year 1971-72. 2.2) Payment may be made in full in cash to all persons covered by the payment of Bonus Act upto 8.33 per cent. Where payments more than 8.33 per cent are to be made during the said accounting year, the (positive,!, e, plus) difference, if any, between the payments to be made during the said accounting year 1970-71 (where they were in excess of 8.33 per cent) will be desposited in the Provident Fund Account of the beneficiaries in view of the price situation and the economic situation through which the Country is passing. 3) The question in regard to any quantum of bonus claimed for the accounting year 1970-71 in excess of the Khadilkar-Formula will be treated as closed except in relation to disputes which are pending settlement. 4) Gases which require special consideration will be subject to action under Section 36 of the Payment of Bonus Act as deemed equitable by the appropriate Government. 5) An ordinance will be passed in regard to paragraphs 2.1 and 2.2 above relating to the accounting year 1971-72 only for the present, as the decisions have been taken after considering the interim reports of the Bonus Review Committee, pending further consideration of the Committee for its final report. 6.1) To prevent^ further accentuation of the existing inflationary conditions the Government has thought it proper to defer payment of bonus in exess of last year's payment levels in the case of those receiving larger bonus payments by crediting them into Provident Fund, so that these exess amounts may not go immediately into circulation. 6.2) Government is taking other ameliorative action by way of supply of essential commodities to the workers through Fair Price distributive system, 6.3) Necessary measures regarding other earnings like return on capital and commission on higher management personnel* are also