Labour and Closure of a Mill: Lives of Workers of a Closed Factory in Kanpur

Author(s): Manali Chakrabarti

Source: Economic and Political Weekly , May 26 - Jun. 1, 2007, Vol. 42, No. 21 (May 26 -
Jun. 1, 2007), pp. 1942-1950
Published by: Economic and Political Weekly

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 Labour and Closure of a Mill
Lives of Workers of a Closed Factory in Kanpur
In Kanpur, JK Cotton Spinning and Weaving Mills Company, the flagship of the erstwhile
undivided JK Group, has been closed since 1989. The mill was closed while it was
undergoing an ambitious modernisation programme with financial aid from several national
financial institutions.of India. The case has been under the purview of the Board of
Industrial and Financial Reconstruction since 1991. The workers of JK Cotton have neither
got any remuneration nor any compensation since 1989. This study is an attempt to
understand the effect of the closure on the workers of the mill and the
changes in their lives in the years since the mill was closed.

MANALI CHAKRABARTI

Juggilal Kamlapat Cotton Spinning and Weaving Mills

persuaded the employers to systematically work towards the
(henceforth referred to as JK Cotton) has been in a state closure of all the textile mills of Kanpur. Predictably perhaps,
of closure since May 15, 1989. JK Cotton, set up in 1921 the first mill to stop production was the JK Cotton Spinning and
Weaving Company - the only mill under private ownership;
by Juggilal Kamlapat Singhania was the first Indian-owned textile
mill to come up in Kanpur [Chakrabarti 2003]. It also heraldedthough none of the other parameters of the mill, as stated above,
the growth of the JK group of companies, which went onindicated to such a turn of events. Just two days later, on May 17,
become one of the largest business groups in the country. Over
1989, the lockout declared illegal by the authorities, and yet the
the years the JK group has set up several companies in diverse
fact is that, the mill was not reopened until March 2006 (personal
sectors ranging from jute textiles, cotton textiles, steel, oil,
interviews with TU leaders, 2005). Since 1989, several events
cement, artificial fibre, etc. The headquarters of the group was
have taken place - the stakeholders of the company including
in Kanpur and many of the mills were set up in and around the management, the workers and their leadership, the financial
city. The group also started several institutions in other sectors
institutions and the government have tried to influence the fate
like health, education and hospitality. JK Cotton, the first of this mill according to their individual or collective interests.
manufacturing venture of the undivided JK group (there were There have been several rounds of blame and counterblame that
splits in the parent organisation in the 1970s) had been a profit-
have been flung by each of these stakeholders at the other actors
making concern for over 65 years, till its closure in 1989. holding them responsible for the course of events leading to the
According to the Industrial Finance Corporation of India's (IFCI's)
closure and also for the period that has elapsed since then. Several
draft report on rehabilitation of JK Cotton, the company' s working
kinds of claims and counterclaims have also been made by these
had been quite satisfactory till the year ending December 31, 1987
actors towards future possibilities for the company. Regulatory
agencies like the Board of Industrial and Financial Reconstruc-
with a cash accrual of Rs three to four crore per year [IFCI 1992].
Significantly, JK Cotton was in the last stages of a massive
tion (BIFR), the judiciary, the state and central governments, city
modernisation programme when the mill was closed down.administration and the labour commissioner's office have also
In the third stage of the modernisation plan, which startedbeen
in involved at various stages to resolve this issue in a just
1987, J K Cotton proposed to replace 108 plain looms bymanner.an Numerous facts, analysis and reports which have been
equal number of air jet looms besides acquiring balancing brought out at the behest of the government machinery in the
equipment worth Rs 2,524 lakh. The modernisation process was
interim period indicate those responsible for this outcome, and
abandoned in 1989 after incurring an expenditure of Rs 1,830
yet none have been prosecuted in all these years. The state of
lakh, which had been financed completely by the financial affairs concerning JK Cotton probably illustrates some defining
institutions (FIs) (IFCI op cit). In the same year, the textile workers
features of the current industrial environment of the country and
of Kanpur staged a demonstration against the K K Pandey Award1 also the ineffectiveness of judiciary as well as of the state
by immobilising all railway traffic going through Kanpur. This
machinery in general in enforcing even its own rulings on the
demonstration disrupted trains on important routes and the gov-
powerful. To substantiate the above assertion let us look briefly
ernment was then forced to roll back the Pandey award after four
at the "inefficiencies" of the individuals and institutions respon-
days of a 'chakkajam' (personal interviews with trade union (TU)
sible for the present state of affairs in JK Cotton.
leaders, 2005).2 The working class in Kanpur then hoped for (a)at Management of JK Cotton: JK Cotton was a profit-making
company and had been in business for over seven decades and
least the continuation of mill operations in the textile industry,
if not a revival of the industry to its earlier glory. But neither
hence its management could be assumed to be astute in business.
the government nor the private owner - the JK group - shared And yet, it made the mistake of passing on almost all the mill's
the enthusiasm of the workers. As is evident from the course produce to unreliable dealers apparently without checking their
of events in the ensuing decade, the victory of the workers incredentials, continuously for several years. This subsequently led
forcing the government to withdraw the Pandey award actually to the accrual of a bad debt of Rs 40 crore. According to the

1942 Economic and Political Weekly May 26, 2007

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special audit report by the chartered accountants Khanna and appropriate remedies, which included determining the nature of
Annadhanam, [Khanna and Annadhanam 1991] done at the sickness and expedite the revival of potentially viable units or
behest of the IFCI, to scrutinise the transactions between the closure of unviable units". But in the case of JK Cotton, in spite
company and the six dealers against whom there was an out- of being under the consideration of BIFR for over 15 years
standing to the tune of Rs 40 crore, the following features werenothing tangible has been done towards the above.
highlighted: (i) there was no formal agreement between the (d) State machinery: The state machinery - including judiciary,
management and the dealers (they had been dealing with thelabour commissioner's office and the local government - has
company for over 20 years), (ii) no security was taken and (iii) nonot been able get its act together and has failed to implement
limits were fixed for the credit allowed to the dealers. even its own directives on the management of JK Cotton. To
list a few - not being able to vacate the closure in spite of it
The report claimed that practically all of the sales were passed
on to these dealers - in 1986, of the total sales of Rs 46.85 crore,
being declared illegal, not being able to get the workers their
due wages and other benefits, etc, (personal interviews with TU
Rs 45.98 crore was passed to these six dealers, in 1987, Rs 51.52
crore out of Rs 52.26 crore, in 1988-89, Rs 39.17 crore out of
Leaders, 2005).
Rs 41.31 crore, and finally, in 1990-91, Rs 3.38 crore out (e) of
Workers of JK Cotton: The main losers of the closure of
Rs 3.64 crore. The amount outstanding from these six dealers JK Cotton have been the workers of the organisation, unfortu-
kept increasing over these same years from Rs 24.51 crore in for no fault of their own. JK Cotton had around 4,000
nately,
1986 to Rs 39.72 crore in 1990-91 [Khanna and Annadhanam, workers at the time of the unexpected closure in 1989. These
op cit]. Further, according to the same report, at one go in 1989 workers have got no compensation towards their wages for the
all the accrued debt was declared as bad debt by the company. last 18 years, except for a month's wage in June 1989, and a
And not even a part of it was recoverable from any of these six month's bonus in the period 1990-91, while the tripartite talks
dealers as apparently none of the dealers had any material assets were being held regarding the issue (personal interviews with
except for ancestral houses under joint ownerships. Khanna and TU leaders, 2005). Thus from having a secure employment, they
Annadhanam's report evinces extreme surprise at this lapse in were all of a sudden left with no wages during the uncertain period
even preliminary business practices by an organisation as of all-round industrial sickness and closure of the 1990s. Further,
established as JK Cotton. none of their accrued dues over long term, like gratuity and
From the summary it will be noticed that none of the dealers provident fund, were given to them to tide over the crisis. In
had any material except Sundry Debtors. We are also furnished
the mid- 1990s their health benefit through the state health agency
copies of letters received from the partners of the dealers
ESI was also withdrawn. The union says several workers have
firms.....indicating that they did not own any immovable property
committed suicide on account of this, not being able to face the
except in one or two cases wherein the parties owned are said economic and social humiliation of having lost their jobs and
to be ancestral house at Kanpur in joint ownership with others.
also their inability to find an alternate employment to maintain
This fact was also noted by the directors in the meeting held as
their pre-closure lifestyle.
late as on 30.03.90 only. It is therefore not understood as to how
Meanwhile, the case is still undecided because of the collective
such huge credits were allowed to the dealers without adequate
securities. The past performance of the dealers (the plea used failure of several stakeholders including the management of JK
by the management for this lapse) is no indication of the cred- Cotton (together with the owners), the financial institutions, the
itworthiness of the parties and we do not understand why BIFR, the the state machinery and the judiciary, the government
management did not take steps to stop supplies, made prompt their, and the ineffective leadership of the workers which has
enquiries as to the worth of the dealers, and/or to recover sometimes
the done more harm than good for the cause. The workers
amounts outstanding (pll). have collectively paid the price for this. The following account
Mismanagement, therefore, compelled the company to close
is an attempt to capture (largely qualitatively) the changes in
down. In the Annual Report for 1989-1990 (AR, JK Cotton,the material lives of the workers of JK Cotton during the 16
No 67, 1990) the management provides no explanation for this
years following the factory's closure in 1989. There are several
excellent studies in recent times which deal with similar situ-
extraordinary process of debt reassessment (converting in a single
ations in different parts of the country - like Bremen's (2003)
year all debts accrued over several years to non-recoverable debt),
and instead, blames labour "unrest" for the closure. work on the life of ex-mill workers of Ahmedabad, Joshi (2003),
(b) Financial institutions: Several big and reputed financial on the decline of Kanpur's mill industry, Menon and Adarkar's
institutions have been providing credit to JK Cotton for decades.
(2004) account of mill workers of Bombay, to name a few. The
present study is an effort with similar concerns.
According to IFCI's draft rehabilitation report of 1992, there were
outstanding debts to the tune of Rs 70 crore due from JK Cotton
as on March 31, 1991. The BIFR's Draft Rehabilitation Scheme
for J K Cotton drawn out in 2002 shows the accumulated out-
Research Objective and Methodology
standing (including the principal and the interests) of the com-
The objective of this study is to present a qualitative under-
standing of the changes in the material conditions of the life
pany as around Rs 435 crore from several financial institutions
and banks, including IFCI, ICICI, UTI, LIC, BSB, State Bankof workers in J K Cotton between the closure of the factory
of Travancore, Grindlays Bank, State Bank of India, etc, in [BIFR
1989 and November 2005. The study is very partial in nature,
2002]. It is difficult to understand as to why these since we have been able to interview only 49 workers of a total
institutions provided enormous amounts of public money to of over 4,000 workers who were employed in the factory at the
time of the closure. Since 1989, several hundred workers
JK Cotton without making adequate provisions for the recovery
of the same. have moved out of the city, some have got other jobs and
(c) The BIFR: When the BIFR was constituted in 1981, it had some others, who have a little land and an extended
the specific mandate to study "sick companies and recommendfamily, went back to their villages. According to the workers

Economic and Political Weekly May 26, 2007 1943

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interviewed, around 500 to 600 workers have died since 1989, understanding of the economic background of the workers
a large number of them probably due to inadequate medical interviewed followed by an analysis of the changes in material
attention, ensuing from the lack of resources because of the loss conditions of the workers and their families over 16 years. In
of their jobs. the third subsection the changes in social status of the respon-
Hamare 500-600 saathi to mar hi gaye hain aur kaho usse zyada dents in the time period under study have been explored. In the
1,100-1,200, kise khabar aur kiske pas time hai pata lagane ka, subsequent section, I have attempted to understand the nature
aur jo hum jee bhirahin ain woh bhi marne ke barabar hi to of medical contingencies faced by the workers and their families
hai. (Five to six hundred of our comrades have died, may be followed by a brief analysis of the effect of the job loss on
even more, say, 1,100 or 1,200, who knows and who has the the women of the household. And finally, the report touches
time to find out, and even though we are living, it is same as briefly on the implications of closure on the offspring of
being dead). the workers. The last section is a summary of the findings of
-A worker
the study.
A group of workers under the banner of the TU organisation 'JK
Cotton Mill Karmachari Audyogik Utpadak Sahkari Samiti 'have
Findings
been camping on the premises of the labour commissioner's
office on an in definite 'dharna' since June 2004. They are rallying
Background of Workers
around the demands to reopen the mill and an early settlement
of all the dues of the workers, including the lost wages for 16
The majority of workers who were interviewed belonged to
years. Except for a group of six to seven workers, who camp the families of mill hands, i e, their fathers were also mill workers.
there for 24 hours, most other workers come to the site according
At least in one case both parents were mill workers in two different
to their convenience. The labour commissioner's office has been mills. Several male members of the extended families also worked
largely ignoring the effort, and yet, every evening the leadership
in mills (mostly textile) in Kanpur.
As is shown in Table 1, of the 27 detailed interviews, there
of the agitation holds meetings at the dharna site for daily updates
as well as to discuss strategies and tactics for future course of 16 respondents whose fathers had retired from jobs in a
were
action. The attendance at these meetings is slightly higher than
mill. Of the remaining 11 as well, there were nine cases in which
in other times of the day, as some workers join the group after
the male breadwinner or a member of the immediate family had
finishing their daily routine, but still is only around 15-20 persons
worked in mills for a stint during their productive period. Further,
on any given day. Only on the days of special occasions for likemost of the respondents, the job in JK Cotton was not their
the dates for meeting the labour commissioner, is there a largerfirst mill job. The usual practice seemed to be of working for
attendance. The interviews for the present study have been
short periods ranging from six months to a couple of years as
conducted at the site of the dharna. apprentice in one mill and then joining as a paid operative in
I have made in all seven visits to the interview site over the another. Inter-mill mobility in pursuit of better wages and per-
months of August, September and October of the year manent 2005. positions was common. The existence of a thriving mill
There were in all 49 interviews - 22 short ones and 27 detailed industry in the city during the 1960s and 1970s, when most of
interviews. The long interviews lasted anywhere betweenthe 30respondents joined the mill industry, helped to absorb tem-
minutes to an hour. Besides the formal interviews, I also got a setbacks, both at the mill level and at an individual level.
porary
chance to interact with several groups of workers and the Loss of employment for a particular worker due to indifferent
understanding through these interactions has also been performance
in- of the mill (for a variety of reasons on both the
corporated in the report. I have also spent several hours with supply- and demand-side), or due to individual performance was
the current leadership of JK Cotton Mill Karmachari Audyogik not considered as a catastrophic occurrence because of the ease
Utpadak Sahkari Samiti, (the union spearheading the dharna) of obtaining an alternate employment in other mills. But in 1989,
to understand the present situation of the struggle. Except when for JK Cotton was closed down by the management, the macro
two interviews which were of widows of the ex-employees of
context of the mill industry in Kanpur had altered drastically.
JK Cotton, all the others were of male employees of the mill. Almost all the textile mills were producing at much below their
The age of the respondents ranged from 48 years to 75 years capacity, and were on the verge of permanently closing down.
with the median around 58 years. All the data presented in
Actually all the cotton textile mills of Kanpur stopped production
the study is based on the interviews. The findings of the study during the decade of 1990s [Joshi 2003]. Thus unlike earlier
are presented under five subsections. It starts with a brief times, the city mill sector did not offer a buffer of alternate
employment opportunities. None of the 49 respondents could
Table 1: Nature of Employment of Fathers of Respondents secure a job in any other mill after the closure of JK Cotton.
Sr Category Number The education level of the respondents in general, was very low,
No with only three or four of them had finished high school, so it
1 Total number of respondents 27 was difficult for them to secure an alternate employment. The
effect
2 Respondents whose fathers* worked and of this altered context
retired from was the
more drastic for the next
mill industry/urban manufacturing sector 16 generation - as would be evident from the analysis of the
3 Respondents whose fathers worked on the land 11
(present) nature of employment of the sons of these mill workers.
4 Of Category 3 the number of respondents whose fathers,
siblings and/or any member of the immediate family hasThough
a few of them had been able to secure employment in
done a
stint in the mill industry 09 the organised sector, including in JK Cotton itself before the
closure, post-1989, not even one of them could find any em-
Note: * I have used the term father as a representation for the main earning
member of the family. ployment in the organised sector. Around one-third of the 27
Source: Detailed interviews with JK Cotton workers. respondents interviewed at length went back to their villages to

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draw sustenance from the land. As one respondent (RN -5)3 Thus whereas on the one hand the city population seems to
succinctly put it: have plunged in to a state of acute economic despair with the
Hamare baap dada zameen chodkar bhage rahin sahar ke taraf closure of the whole mill industry including the JK Cotton
- aur hum fir munh latkakar waapis aa gaye. Hamari agli pidhi ostensibly because of market forces, these social interstices which
ka to bhagwaan hi maalik. (Our ancestors had left the land and are not dictated by market forces have contributed to the resilience
had fled to the city and we have to go back in shame to the same of a large section of the population.
land, what would happen to our next generation, god only knows.) Though many respondents have a bank account, there is prac-
tically no credit balance to speak of, actually most of these
Material Conditions accounts are from the time when they were employed in JK Cotton
and have not been operated since its closure. Eight respondents
A look at the changes in the material condition ofdrawthe a27
nominal pension (of about Rs 350-450 per month) which
respondents suggests that there have been only marginalhas necessitated the opening of an account (Table 2).
changes
The earnings from J K Cotton for the 27 respondents ranged
since 1989. But this observation unfortunately does not capture
the real situation to any extent. The material reality of from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,800 per month when the mill closed in
the city
has changed significantly. Thus, whereas owning a TV 1989,
was with
a the medium income being Rs 1,500 as is shown in
rarity in 1989, it has become a veritable necessity inTable 3.
today's
context. But six households of the 27 interviewed not having
This was barely enough to keep their families together as is
even "rented"4 electricity connection and even basic electrical
apparent from the state of houses, material belongings and the
amenities like a ceiling fan. In 1989, seven households out oflevel of their children. As one of them put it 'kisi tarah
education
the 27 interviewed were not having electricity. Nine ofdhakiyay-fakiayay
the 27 chalta tha' (could barely manage by cutting
households still do not have access to private toilet facilities.
comers). The terms of work in JK Cotton were not very good
Though there are some communal toilets available in andsome
most workers worked under extreme uncertainties. Working as
localities, most still avail of the open space along thetemporary
railway workers for several years before being awarded a
permanent
tracks. In 1989, only nine households had gas connections, today position was common. As RK (21) said shuru se hi
17 households have it, but 10 households still use the 'chulha'
bahutere muskil dekhe rahi - teen rupya ka kaam shuru kari
or ('lakdi ki burada'). The summary of the changes in rahin,
material aurphir thoda badi, shuru- shuru ka pakhwara pakhwara
status of the 27 respondents are given in Table 2. baithki rahin (There were lot of problems right from the begin-
Though the material conditions of a few households have
ning, had to work at three rupees a fortnight and then it increased
improved to that of any average middle class, as RSSC (7) Table 2: Comparative Summary Statement of Material
elaborated on his material possession 'jo bhi eik madhyam Possession of the 27 Respondents
vargiya gharmein saman hota hai - TV, fridge, washing machine, for the Years 1989 and 2005

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

to understand the issue of shelter. Most of the 27 respondents, Ceiling fan 19 08 21 06

Television 11 16 19 08
barring four or five, live in the same accommodation today as
Bank account 18 09 17 10
they did in 1989. In 1989, 11 of the respondents owned their
own houses and a further 11 lived in the houses which were, Source: Detailed interviews w

as we have them practically own (PO). The city houses several

Table 3: Comparative
thousand inhabitants in accommodation whose rents are as nominal
of the Respondents
as Rs 10-15 a month. Some of them are "labour colonies" which
Range of Monthly Number of Range of Range of Numbers of
when constructed had been at the outskirts of the city, butIncomeas of the Respondents Income of the 'Real' Income Respondents
the city expanded they have come to be right in the middle Main of Breadwinner Family** Adjusted to
in 1989 in 2005 1990 Value*
elite localities, like the Shastri Nagar. At present these spacious
living accommodations house mostly middle class and upper
Less than Less than Less than
middle class households. They exchange ownership on payment Rs 1,250 05 Rs 2,000 Rs 740 05
of enormously high 'pagdi'5 which reflects the actual valueRs of1,300 to Rs 2,000 to less Rs 740 to
Rs 1,550 15 than Rs 3,000 Rs 1,111 12
the land and the built-in space. But several labour colonies also
Rs 1,600 Rs 3,000 to Rs 1,111 to
house workers who have been living there over generations and
to Rs 1,800 13 Rs 4,500 Rs 1,667 8
treat the space as their own. Above Rs 1,800 01 Above Rs 4,500 Above Rs 1,667 02
Besides there are some 'hatas' which have been donated to
Notes: * We have deflated the earnings in 2005 using the Consumer
temples much like land being donated in feudal times toIndex - Industrial Worker (CPI-IW) deflator (issued by the La
religious institutions. The rents from these hatas go to theBureau of India) for Kanpur which works out to a factor of 2.7.
* since many of the respondents at present provide only suppleme
temple. But over decades there has been no increase in the rent
income if any towards family expenses we have considered the t
and the inhabitants of these hatas believe that these houses belong family's income - of all those who stay in the same house.
to them. Source: Detailed interviews of 27 respondents.

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slightly, in the beginning were given 'baithki' (forced sitting from The handful of respondents who seemed to have improved their
work) every other fortnight). Thus the job in JK Cotton was not condition since in 1989, have support from their home village,
necessarily enough to ensure a decent living for most of the specially in the form of land. Produce from land supplemented
respondents - unless they had additional support from extended with cattle wealth is the reason for their material well-being. Even
families or land. The workers had several kinds of complaints they lament the loss of employment in JK Cotton, because it
against their employers on the issues of wages and working signalled the loss of potential employment for their children. It
conditions. But still it was a steady and certain source of income, is significant that none of the off-spring of the 27 respondents
and when even that was not forthcoming due to the closure of interviewed have employment in the organised sector.
the mill; these households had to face unprecedented uncertain-
ties. AL (23) commenting on the inadequacy of the wages from Social Status
JK Cotton to run the family expenses said, chal hi nahi pata
tha - par phir to baad me woh bhi gaya (we could not manage The most palpable loss caused by the mill closure, as vo
by the income from the mill but later we lost even that security). unanimously by all respondents, is the social status of
The median income of the respondents at present is around individuals. As ML (1) put it,
Rs 2,000-3,000 per month - and even that is very uncertain. The Aurat ka aadmi hota hai uska aadmi, usi se uski izzat aur
amount itself is much lower than what would have been due to
hai, aur us aadmi ka aadmi hota hai naukari, woh gai to sa
them in case of indexed7 income from the mill. It is very difficultuski wazood chala gaya, uske baad to bazaar me baithna
to make any concrete assessment as to what the income from the (The woman's husband is her husband, she gets respect d
mill would have been at present if it had been working. The valuehim, and her husband gains respect because of his job. If tha
of the rupee has depreciated substantially. Thus according to one it is like he has lost his identity, after that it is like selling you
estimation of the real income of the respondents (which we have in the market place.)
attempted to do by deflating the current nominal income by the Loss of their jobs in JK Cotton had compelled several mem
official CPI-IW figures of these 16 years of Kanpur), the median
of every family to enter the monetary economy to contribu
income has slide down to Rs 900 in 2005 from Rs 1,500 in 1989.
the family earnings, accompanied by a serious marginali
None of the 49th8 respondents have any steady employment and of the male bread earner's position in the family itself.
are dependent on the unorganised service sector for their living.Ladke bachhe izzat nahi karte, kahte hai budhau baithe ra
A sixth of them are street hawkers (eight respondents), another tumhare bas ka kono karm nahi . rishtedaar pale tan
sixth (nine respondents) earn their living by selling their labour
aavbhagat karte - aab kanni katte hain. Phone par hi s
either by rickshaw pulling (four) or directly from the labour marketaane ko mana kar dete. Teej tyohar me tohfe nahi le jate to
(five). Ten respondents have gone back to land for sustenance. bhi pochana bhool jaate. (Children do not show us any res
Five respondents have street corner shacks for miscellaneous
articles like pan masala, cigarette, bidi and one respondent is a
Box 1
roving cycle repairer. Seven respondents are totally unemployed;
of them two are vagabonds, as is shown in Table 4. B K (26), is 58-years old and was in the drawing department- he was
The precariousness of their existence makes the lost employ- a designer. BK had four children - three daughters and one son. The
ment from JK Cotton much more lucrative than what it probably eldest daughter graduated with BA and got married in 1985. The
second daughter did her MA and got married in 2000. She works in a
actually had been. We came across several accounts in which
school. The third daughter has done her MA, BEd and is a teacher in
the street corner shacks of the respondents have been repeatedlya private school and earns Rs 3,000 per month. She has cleared the
pulled down by municipal authorities. The hawkers are regularlyexam for the position of a government teacher and will be posted
harassed by the policemen in the locality and a bribe has to beshortly. His son studied up to Mcom, BEd and was working as an
accountant in a firm. He died under mysterious circumstances in 2004.
given on a regular basis to both the state representatives and the
One day after work he disappeared and about four days later the
local hoodlums (dadas) to be allowed to merely run their smallfamily received a message that his dead body was found near the
outfits. Though much of these hardships may not have been railway tracks of the Tundla station - nearly 350 Kms from Kanpur.
averted by the continuance of their employment - but assertionsNeither the family nor the police could come up with any plausible
reason for his death. BK was in tears while relating this hum na kahte
by several respondents suggest a belief that all the ills that have
the aapko ki mill band hone se hamara sab kuch lut gaya, waldiyat
befallen their lives are due to the closing of the mill. For example, likhane ke liye koina raha, wansh kaise badhega, itna sabjodke rakha
the death of BK's (26) son because of uncertain reasons havetha kiske liye, log kahten ki ladkiyan bhi barabar hoti hai par woh to
been attributed to the mill closure (Box 1). parayi hoti hai, jitna bhi padhao, likhao, naukri bhi kare sab kuch
sasuraal chala jaata hai, mill ne hamain kahin ka nahin choda ( Didn't
I tell you that we lost everything because of the mill closure, nobody
Table 4: Present Occupation of the 49 Respondents Interviewed is left to carry on the family tree, how will the dynasty survive, people
say that daughters are equivalent to sons and yet they belong to some
Nature of Occupation Number of Respondents
other family, however much you educate them, even get them a job,
Hawker 08 everything would go over to the in-laws, the mill has left us with
Shack/street corner vendor 06 nothing).
Physical labourer (rickshaw-puller and unskilled
I did not feel like asking how the mill was responsible for this piece of
labour in the labour market 09
misfortune, as the family seems to have done quite well, but instead
Unemployed/vagabond,etc 09 realised and notforthe first time, the tendency of attributing everything
Factory 01 to the one publicly acknowledged misfortune. Life in this city is not
Retired 03
easy with or without the job in JK nowadays. It is uncertain and hostile
Land-peasant 10
and often just invoking this collective disaster which everybody has
Others 03
undergone, to account for all the misfortunes, contributes to a level of
Total 49 collective camaraderie.

Source: 49 interviews with workers of JK Cotton.

1946 Economic and Political Weekly May 26, 2007

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 they say you old people are good for nothing, relatives used cook and sleep at the site. But besides them there are several
to extend a warm welcome earlier, but now they too avoid us. batches of workers who visit the site at several hours during the
Some ask us on the phone itself not to visit them, during day and spend some time before dispersing. Usually members
festivals as we cannot give any gifts anymore they forget to offer of these groups have an understanding and assemble at pre-
us even water.)
decided times. There are a faithful few who come in the morning
-ML (1)
and sit through till late evening. On the occasion of my first two
A lot may be just the perception of these individuals but it is
visits (the workers had been briefed about me and the purpose
shared by the majority. SR (18) is a 'bhagat'9 whose wife had
of my visits) I found a group of 10-15 workers sitting earnestly
died several years back, has no children of his own and used to sup-
on a 'durry' apparently discussing the struggle. On my first visit
port his nephews from his earnings from the mill. These nephews
I was informed by a person in the leadership about the activities
have apparently cheated him from his share of the family land. He
of the assemblage "we make strategies and tactics in a group,
too laments the loss of job in JK Cotton. When I asked him what
as to how to take the movement forward". All the workers present
would have done with the money since his worldly spending was
had solemnly nodded in agreement. One man of 70, while
so little, he elaborated Bhatijo ko dete - woh hamari izzat to
eloquently emphasising the influence of the current leadership
karte, ab to dutkarte hai (I would have given it to my nephews
of the struggle, thundered in a quivering voice.
- they would have respected me, now they treat me openly with
Hum to vohi karenge jo Tiwari ji (the current leader) kahenge
contempt).
- woh kahen to hum unko kaat dalenge, poochenge nahi koi sawal
For some the job loss may not have made any material dif-
aur kahenge to sau lathi ke baad bhi chup rahenge (We will do
ference, but the trauma has caused a sense of loss of identity
whatever Tiwariji tells us, (pointing at two unknown young men
and mental disorder. R (17) could not give an interview because going past in a motorcycle), if he asks us to strike them down
he was mentally unstable; his colleagues assert that R was well dead we will do it without asking a single question and if he tells
off and yet, lost his mental balance because he could not adjust us so, we would not let out a single word in protest even after
to the loss of his job at JK Cotton. Individuals whose material we are struck by a stick a hundred times).
condition has improved since the mill closure and who have been A score of grey, and stooping heads nodded in agreement. By
able to climb several rungs in the social order, also have not been my third visit these men had reverted to their usual routine which
able to secure an alternate social circle (see Box 2). made me realise the actual significance of dharna. The men
usually spend their time playing cards for no or very low stakes,
Site of Dharna usually culminating in a round of tea from the wins of the session.
A transistor keeps playing bawdy/raunchy Hindi songs, which
The site of the dharna is the social meeting place for the seemed
section particularly lewd given that the average age of the group
of workers of J K Cotton who were interviewed for the presentis around 60. Someone or the other was always stretched out
study. It is situated in the parking lot of the labour commissioner' s
for a snooze on the durry, oblivious of the surrounding noise.
office. With the closing down of most of the organised mills
I had to coax them repeatedly to be able to get them to talk, I
and factories in the city, the activities of this office have come
suppose, because even watching the ongoing game was more
down drastically and the parking lot is usually empty except for than answering some irrelevant queries about their lives.
exciting
a few stray cycles and an occasional car. Visitors to theItoffice
was not as if they were oblivious to the irrelevance of their
are also few and far in between. As has been mentioned dhama,
earlier, especially, given the fact that their presence was largely
a handful of workers are parked there permanently - they eat, by the authorities:
ignored
Arre pichle dedh saal se to hum hi daten huy hain - kai com-
missioner ko aate-jaate dekha hai par koi hamare taraf akhen
uthakar bhi nahi dekhtha, mano hum koi kude ke dher hai - naak
Box 2
dhakkar udhar muh pher kar nikal jate hai. Haan ek baat achhi
RSS (7) was in a staff position in JK Cotton - he was a railway clerk hai ki ab tak hamen police se nahi khadeda (For the past one and
and used to receive delivered parcels both by rail and road. He was a half years we have been a permanent fixture here, many com-
born in 1957. When I met him, he was playing cards, but seeing the missioners have come and gone, but nobody even looks at us, as
resigned, expression on my face deigned to speak to me despite his if we are a heap of garbage, they hurry past us with averted eyes
colleagues urgings to continue playing. In 1989, he used to stay in a
and nose covered. The only thing good about it is that they have
rented accommodation in Kidwainagar on a monthly rent of Rs 350.
The flat had two rooms, a kitchen and a latrine, bathroom. Soon after
not yet driven us out.
he lost his job he bought a house in the World Bank colony in Barra - A worker, whose name I could not coax out of him, made this
from his own savings (around Rs 35,000) and with substantial comment while still lying supine on the durry and then promptly
assistance from his father. This house is larger and has the possibility turned to the other side to continue his afternoon siesta
of building more storeys. At present, his house has the following
amenities 'jo bhi ek madhyam vargiya ghar mein saaman hota hai sab
hai- TV, fridge, washing machine, cooler, mixies, gas motorcycle, Table 5: Serious Medical Ailments Suffered by Respondents
ityadi ityadi'). He has inherited 18 bigha of land and he earns about Rs and Their Immediate Families from 1989 to 2005
40,000 of net revenues from the produce.
List of Ailments Number of Cases Reported
Thus his material condition definitely seems to have improved since
the closure, though not because of it, and today he belongs to a social Tuberculosis 10
strata that is much above his erstwhile co-employees of JK Cotton. But Mental Illness 5
the fact that he comes everyday to the labour commissioner's office to Gynaecological 5
be with his colleagues sitting on a dharna and play cards for hours on Cancer 1
end suggests the social displacement of these individuals, whereinMiscellaneous (serious) 6
they find it very difficult to make new friends. Accident (fatal or near fatal) 3

Source: Detailed interviews of 27 respondents.

Economic and Political Weekly May 26, 2007 1947

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 Health severe bleeding, prolapsed uterus, etc. Women - wives and
daughters seem to be the main victims of indifferent medial
Health problems aggravated by inadequate medical attention attention (see Box 3). The discontinuance of ESI support has
seem to be one of the serious issues faced by the respondents further aggravated their problems. Expensive private medical
and their family at present. Many respondents along with one healthcare coupled with doubtful integrity of the medical prac-
or more members of the family suffer from tuberculosis. The titioners affordable by the workers make the situation almost
families can neither afford the diet nor the medicine for its cure. irredeemable. One important factor responsible for the drastic
There are several instances of mental illness which are largelyincrease in the need for medical attention since 1989 seems to
ignored. Actually most aliments are ignored till they precipitate be the general aging of the respondents and their spouses.
into a crisis. A summary of the serious ailments suffered by theMalnutrition, extreme hard work, unhygienic living conditions
respondents and their immediate families are given in Table 5. (especially for women) are also responsible for ill-health.
Several women suffer from gynaecological problems including
Condition of Women/Spouses
Box 3 The women of the households have had to bear the maximum
brunt of the altered adverse situation caused by the mill closure. As
G S (20), (looked around 55 but may be younger or older) - and when
RSC (6) repeated several times during the course of our interaction:
I asked, she said ab apahi kuch samajh ke likh do, byah to kara nahin
ki chotan badhan huijai-parfirbhipaintis ki to huibe kari, kaho challisasliyat samajhni hai to aapko ghar ki mahilaun se bat karni hogi.
paintalis bhi ho (now you only guess and write down something, after
Namak roti dono time unhi ko akhni padti, bachoon ki bhook bhi
all I do not plan to get married where you cannot afford to have mix-ups,
and yet I must be definitely thirty-five, or maybe forty or even forty-five,
unhi ko saheni padti, bimari bhi jhelni padti ..... hum log to paise
who knows). unke hath mein thamakar bas dus-pachas to kabhi bilkul phanka
G S has been suffering from a big boil on her chest which she claims ((I)f you really want to understand the reality you have to talk
is very painful. She has shown it to some doctor but does not have the to the housewives. It is primarily their responsibility to provide
resources to even get the diagnostic tests done let alone the treatment.
at least salt and bread twice a day, they have to endure the hunger
She vehemently refuses to go to the government hospital (we are sitting
of children, and suffer their illnesses too. We, menfolk absolve
almost next door to the hospital) nahin hamre khatin nahin hai haalat
woolat, jab kabhi subidha hoi to piraivate karaibe, nahin to bhagwan ourselves of our responsibilities by just putting the money in their
maalik(No not for me is this Haalat Woolat (disfiguration of the name hands - sometimes Rs 10 or 50 and sometimes absolutely nothing.)
of the government hospital - hallet), when I have the means I will go to
Most respondent talked about ill - defined illness of which their
a private doctor, otherwise leave it to god). One of her daughters had
also been very unwell and used to suffer from low-grade fever for wives have been suffering for extended periods.
months. She was treated but G S has no idea as to what was her The two women I interviewed during the study, GS (20) and
ailment.
RK (21) were widows of employees of JK Cotton. Both of them
UK (11) was a temporary worker at JK Cotton for seven years till 1989.
He is a peasant of moderate means and he and his sons and their were illiterate and had no clue as to what the current agitation
families live off the produce of the family land. A few years back, UK's could offer them in concrete terms. Further, not having much
wife had an accident. A huge stone slab fell on her head. Though she knowledge of the nature of their husband's job, they were unable
did not show any symptoms immediately of anything seriously wrong
to handle the deluge of incomprehensible paperwork which fell
except for a surface wound and severe headaches, a few years later
on them after the death of their husbands and had to seek
she started having convulsions. The doctor attributed it to the accident
and that she needed treatment for the next five years at Rs 50 per day assistance, which also was often not easily forthcoming. All this
city skan or baaki ultra main jo hazaron jhonka uska to hisaab hi nahin effort had to be made to draw a pension worth Rs 400 per month.
(I have not even taken account of the thousands I spent on CT scan and
Some of these women have been forced to enter the job market
ultra sound). UK attributed this mishap and its aftermath to the mill
closure. When I probed him to elaborate on the connection, he could as domestic help, and have also been compelled to accept a
not say anything except for reiterating 'haalat bahut kharab chal raha segregated and often neglected existence in their sons' house-
ha? (times are very bad). Of course, what he did not choose to see was holds. The indignity of their situation is captured by RK (21)
the fact that women's health is very low on priority in most households
and is usually neglected till the point of break down.
(see Box 4). Men usually find it convenient to be away from
the house the whole day to avoid unpleasant confrontation (see
Box 5). But the "house" wives are not only bound to the house,
but are also compelled to enter the market in search of menial
and ill-paying employment for sustenance.

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

1948 Economic and Political Weekly May 26, 2007

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of the respondents or any of their children have been able to secure the fear of losing the only source of secure income, GC has not
any employment in the organised sector. Most of the sons are actively arranged his daughter's marriage as yet.
employed in petty positions like shop assistants, tailor, shack/ The pain and hardship of breaking down of social norms, and
gumti owner, cycle repairer, car mechanic, electricians, etc, in in fact, even contributing to it even though unwillingly, because
the service sector. Actually their relatively higher education make of losing employment in JK Cotton seems to be the most serious
them reluctant to seek employment involving physical labour, cause of anguish of the male respondents of the present study.
they seem to prefer being underemployed or even unemployed. Sub barbad ho gaya, kitni bahu betian ghar chodkar nikalne
The daughters seem to be even worse off as many of them par majboor ho gai, kitni shadian jati ke bahar hui- ...hum log
are not married even though they are well past their marriageable kahin ke nahi rahe (Everything has been ruined, many wives and
age. In a few cases the daughters have been able to secure daughters have had to leave the house in search of a better life,
education and employment through a lot of hard work and many have run away, many alliances have taken place outside
initiative like GC's (2) daughter, who has studied till postgraduation the socially accepted norm, we have been deprived of our social
and is the main breadwinner of the family. Probably because of identity.) It is difficult to ascertain the veracity of these assertions
but the concern seemed to be shared widely.
MH (3), with six daughters (mentioned earlier too), and a very
Box 5 mild demeanour said, bus inhi logo ke liye hum bandh gaye varna
is samaj ko thokar mar diya hota - baghi ho gaye hote (we are
HL, (4) was a trolley man in JK Cotton and is 58 years old. While being
constrained by the societal norms because of our daughters,
interviewed he was impeccably dressed in a white trouser and a shirt,
but immediately after that he took off the shirt and tied an angochaotherwise
(a we would have rejected this society and would have
piece of handy cloth) around his neck and sat down to play cards -become
he rebels.) The loss of employment and the real and perceived
looked very different and gelled completely with the other workers hardships in both the material as well as social domain seem to
already at the game. He had come promptly at 11 in the morning and he
have split families too. The position of the male earning members
told me that he stayed there the whole day. At present he does not
(workers in JK Cotton) has slid down, a sentiment shared by many
contribute anything towards the family's expenses and the family relies
on the income of the children, which is around Rs 300-400 per week. as is captured in this assertion koi hamar nahi sunta na bacche
The rent for the house is outstanding for 16 months. He also has a debt
na biwi aur nahi naate rishtedaar (nobody listens to us, not wife,
of about Rs 12,000. He had some savings which have been spent
nor children and nor relatives either). Besides, the children have
completely. Roz ghar main chik-chik hoti hai, isiliye bhaga rahta hoon,
subah paani mila to woh peekar bhi nikal leta hoon aur din bharyehan remained conspicuously uninvolved in the struggle for reopening
pada rahta hoon aur shaam ko ek niwala mile to who khakar so jaata
the mill. In all the seven visits made during the course of the data
hoon. Aapke paas kuch naukri ho to batayiye hum to aaj bhi sahi kaam
collection not even a single off-spring, male or female visited the
karne ko tayyarhai - mill khulne pe sab pahlejaisa ho sakta hai(There
dhara site. When asked specifically the reasons, the response
is bickering everyday in the house, that's why I keep away from home,
ranged
if I get only water in the morning I just drink it quietly and leave the house from karate khate hai unko iskijarrorat nahi, kaam kaji
and then stay here (the dharna site) the whole day, and in the evening
hai yeh sub karne kifursat nahi hai - yeh to bus hum hi jute huye
I make do with one mouthful of food and go off to bed. If you can provide
hain and a few said sub nalayak hai - baap ki izzat nahi karte
me with any employment it would be very nice, I am ready to work even
now, only if the mill reopens everything would be fine again.) His clothes("they earn a living hence they do not understand the significance
and his health did not corroborate his claims and I suspect that though of the movement", "they are busy with their work and do not have
the condition of the family must be as he describes it, he sticks around time for this", "they are all worthless and do not respect their
the dharna site to avoid contributing his share to the family kitty. At his
fathers"). The attitude of the children (both sons and daughters)
age he may not be very keen to put in hard physical labour and no easy
options are available to him. seemed to be that, since the fathers had failed to adequately
provide for the family during their growing up years they had
consequently forfeited the right to intervene in their lives. The
loss of job and the feeling of fall of grace seem to have not only
Box 6 marginalised the workers from larger society and their extended
family, but also from their immediate nuclear family.
M H (3) was a weaver in JK Cotton. MH is a fair, bespectacled slight man
with white hair and very dignified looking; he is 53 years old. MH has
seven children - six daughters and one son. In 1989 when the mill Conclusion
closed down all his children were studying. The eldest, the only son,
was studying in St Martin English School in Jasodanagar. As he said,From the events leading to the closure of JK Cotton in 1
fees to bahutzyada thiparkamate the aurthe bahutsaare armaan apne
and the subsequent happenings, it is apparent that several pow
bade ladke ko lekar isliye bharti kar diya (the fees was very high but /I
was earning and had a lot of aspirations). Actually when I asked whereful stakeholders involved in the events leading to the closu
his children were studying, he only mentioned St Martin school. When JK Cotton have bungled, and have procrastinated on the w
I probed whether all seven of them studied there, he said, that the others
process about deciding the future of the organisation. And
(basically the six daughters) were studying in Islamia School Babupurwa
and Lallu Junion High School. There seemed a desire to associate
they
with
have not been able to come to any concrete conclu
regarding JK Cotton. The closure does not seem to have seriou
the middle class aspirations of good schooling and its associated
affected
possibilities. After loss of steady income the children had to shift school. the lifestyles of the various powerful stakeholder
The eldest son managed to finish BA but did not do too well. As he
volved; otherwise, a conducive solution would not have been
commented 'pitaji ki naukri chali gayi par unki that nahin gayi aur BA
karne ke baad to we humjaise majoori to nahin karsakte the -yeh unke so elusive. One is not in a position to judge whether justice by
government-instituted machinery should take eight years and
liye neecha kaam tha parkahin office main naukri bhi nahin mill' (father
lost his job. But the son has not yet changed his lifestyle. After his BA
more to resolve such a case. It is also not possible from the present
he is not prepared to do any menial jobs, but has not yet got any white
study to decide on the blame which should be apportioned to
collar job).
the various actors involved - the management/owners, the
financial institutions, BIFR, the state government, the labour

Economic and Political Weekly May 26, 2007 1949

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commissioner's office, the leadership of the workers, etc, etc.
But one aspect that can be probably asserted firmly is that the
workers should not have to pay for it as they have been the ultimate
victims. One might argue that the loss of so many productive
years of employment and its consequences can never be mon-
etarily compensated, but not even a token attempt has made in
this direction. In an uneven field of power and financial wealth, the
powerless always seems to become the sacrificial pawns. But as
concerned citizens, we must demand an end to this; the powerless
have paid enough and should not have to pay any further.
3 For quotes the source is indicated by alphabets and a number where
the alphabets indicate the abbreviation of the name of the respondent
and the number indicates the number of the interview.
4 This is another interesting and ubiquitous practice in the city. A majority
of the residents of Kanpur do not have legal electricity connections for
complicated reasons. But many of them draw electricity from a legal
connection by paying a rent to the legal user.
5 A form of payment for an asset which is not shown in the legal deed
for transfer of property, a transaction in black money.
6 A concentration of very small accommodation, often with common toilet
facilities built near large mills, which houses the mill-workers and their
families.

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: chakrabartim@hotmail.com 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

SYMPOSIUM ON SACHAR COMMITTEE REPORT

March 10, 2007
Social, Economic and Educational Conditions of Indian Muslims - Rakesh Basant
A Comment on the Analysis in Sachar Report - Steven Wilkinson
The Condition of Muslims -Ghanshyam Shah
Indian Muslims: The Varied Dimensions of Marginality - Rowena Robinson
Conditioned Lives? -M A Kalam

For copies write to: Circul

Economic and Political W
Hitkari House, 6th Floor, 284,
email: circulation@epw.org

1950 Economic and Political Weekly May 26, 2007

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