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MANALI CHAKRABARTI
cooler, mixie, gas, motorcycle, ityadi... ityadi..." (whatever any 1989 2005
middle class family has TV, fridge, mixies, motorcycle, etc,
Itemetc). No of No of No of No of
The condition of most of the respondents has remained nominallyRespondents Respondents Respondents Respondents
Who Possessed Who Did Not Who Possessed Who Did Not
at the same level as that in 1989. Except for a few respondents, Possess Possess
as mentioned above, most of them have no assets of any value
House 22 05 22 05
- the total earning of the family goes towards the routine expenses
Electricity 20 07 21 06
of food and clothing. Gas 18 09 10 17
We observed an interesting social phenomenon while Private trying toilet 19 08 19 08
Box 4
Children
R K (21) looks around 60 years of age but may be younger. Her late
husband was a weaver in JK Cotton. After his death, RK had been The children of the respondents interviewed, who are mostly
supporting the family by working as a domestic help. The admission ofin their 20s or even older, seem to reflect the actual enormity
this fact to me was extremely humiliating for RK. When I asked her of long-term implications of the closure of not only JK Cotton,
how she supported the family she was quiet for sometime and then in
but the mill industry in the city in general. Though the education
a tear-choked voice said logon ka ghar chouka bartan kari, inke
rahte kabhigharse baharnahin nikle, ghunghatkaare rahte, parpetke received by this generation is more than the earlier generation,
khatin, bachchon kae khatin kami padi (I work as domestic help at still at least 12 respondents reported that their children had not
other people's houses, as long as he (her husband) was alive I never studied beyond primary school. MH elaborated on how he shifted
had to go out of the house, I would live in a purdah (indicating that
she had much higher dignity) but for one's stomach and for the children
his son from an expensive English medium school to a govern-
I had to do this.) She was speaking so softly that I had to strain my earsment school of a different standard (see Box 6).
to hear her.
In spite of a comparatively higher education, the job possi-
bilities have considerably reduced in the last two decades. None
The present state of affairs cannot be fully appreciated unless 7 Indexed to the rise in living expenses and the norms of the sector.
it is put in historical perspective. Because of the peculiar scope 8 We have the employment data for 49 respondents - including the 27
detailed interviews and 22 short ones.
of this study, the workers and their agitation come across as
9 Somebody who has renounced the world and lives on alms and donations
"powerless" and "ineffective" to change the current scenario. But given for singing devotional songs in temples.
this is an incomplete and inaccurate comment on the working 10 On September 30, 2005 JK Cotton held their annual general meeting
class of Kanpur. The mill workers of the city have a legacy of to update the stockholders of the group activities in Merchants' Chambers
class conscious movement (they spearheaded the nationalist of Commerce Building, Kanpur. The workers had requested an audience
with the group head Padampat Singhania to discuss their issues. They
movement too in the region), spanning a period of over 80 years.
had also sought police permission for the same. But, in spite of promising
Starting from the 1920s, they have repeatedly organised them- to meet them after the meeting, Singhania tried to get away in his car
selves to secure better working terms and conditions and also without doing so. When the workers tried to stop him they were lathi
higher negotiating power. Thus, in different times and under charged by the armed security. The next day there was a small mention
different circumstances, often not more conducive than the present of the incident in the local papers.
one - for example, under the colonial regime - the mill workers
References
of Kanpur have been able to achieve more dignity at work and
favourable legislations through collective actions [Chakrabarti Bremen, Jan (2003): 'The Making and Unmaking of an Industrial Working
2003; Joshi 2003; Pandey 1970]. Hence, the present situation Class: Sliding Down to the Bottom of the LabourHierarchy in Ahamedabad,
does not signify an irreversible decline but actually a trough in India', University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
BIFR (2002): 'Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction',
the continuous wave of the working class movement. The crest
Case No 81/90 Re: M/S JK Cotton Spg & Wvg Mills Co Ltd Bench-1I,
is likely to be round the corner. [ Draft Rehabilitation Scheme, New Delhi.
Chakrabarti, M (2003): 'Industrialisation Process of Kanpur City: 1900 to
Email: [email protected] 1945', unpublished thesis, Kolkata.
manalichakrabarti @yahoo.com IFCI (1992): 'Draft Rehabilitation Scheme: JK Cotton Spinning and Weaving
Mills Co Ltd Case No 81/90', Industrial and Financial Corporation of
India, New Delhi.
Notes JK Cotton (1990): Juggilal Kamlapat Cotton Spg and Weaving Mills Co
Annual Report and Accounts 1989-90 (67), Kanpur.
1 The award followed the recommendations of a committee headedJoshi,
by Chitra (2003): Lost Worlds: Indian Labour and Its Forgotten Histories.
K K Pandey which was constituted by the government to refurbish the
Permanent Black, Delhi.
flagging textile industry. The award was perceived to be anti-labour by
Khanna and Annadhanam (1991): 'JK Cotton Spinning and Weaving Mills
the working class and its leadership and there was a widespreadCo Ltd', Special Audit, Directions of BIFR, New Delhi.
understanding that the award would lead to wide-scale retrenchment in
LabourBureau Annual Report (2001,2006): Consumer Price Index (Industrial
the industry and also substantially increase the workload of the workers.
Workers).
2 I have had extensive discussions with the current leadership of a section
Menon, M and N Adarkar (2004): One Hundred Years. One Hundred Voices:
of workers under the TU organisation 'JK Cotton Mill KarmachariThe Mill Workers of Girangaon, An Oral History, Seagull, Calcutta.
Audyogik Utpadak Sahkari Samiti' as well as some individuals who have Pandey, S M (1970): As Labour Organises: A Study of Unionism in Kanpur
been in the leadership position in the past in the period since the closure
Cotton Textile Industry, Sri Ram Centre for Industrial Relations, New
of the mill. Delhi.
SPECIAL ISSUE