Interwar Economy of India PDF

History by M.A Ansari Chapter: 7 Interwar Economy of India THE GROWTH OF TRADE UNIONS The trade union movement is a movement of the working class to improve their working and living conditions. Unlike the farmers who toiled...

History by M.A Ansari Chapter: 7 Interwar Economy of India THE GROWTH OF TRADE UNIONS The trade union movement is a movement of the working class to improve their working and living conditions. Unlike the farmers who toiled day and night in the fields, workers in modern factories had certain advantages as they worked under a single roof and got a salary at the end of the month. They worked with each other's cooperation in the factory which gave birth to the concept of unity of purpose'. Last but not least they were not dependent on nature, unlike peasants, which made them more self dependent. One of the biggest negative impacts of the capitalist system was the miserable condition of industrial workers, in factories and the pathetic living conditions in hutment clusters (known as 'jhopadpatti" in India). Though England and other European countries invested in improving the working and living conditions of their workers through legislation and other administrative measures, this has yet to be taken seriously by the Indian Government and the capitalist. In India, however, The workers had to face two odds- the capitalist and the colonial regime, neither of which was interested in improving their living and working conditions. Workers had to take an initiative themselves: Luckily, they did get support from some urban intelligentsia, mainly the Leftist and the Nationalist. The strikes and agitation were not new to industrial workers in India. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, many unions were organized like Bombay Mill Hands Association (1890) organized by N.M. Lokhande, the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants (1897), the Printer's Union in Calcutta (1905) and the Postal Union in Bombay (1907). However, these cannot be classified as trade unions because they were all sporadic and spontaneous and lacked class-consciousness. Page 1  History by M.A Ansari After the end of World War I in 1918, a series of strikes was organized in the industrial centers of Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, Ahmedabad, Cownpore, Sholapur, Jamshedpur, etc. The workers also joined political strikes on the issue of Rowlatt Act (April 6, 1919), which marked the entry of the working class into the Nationalist Movement. Serious attempts to form trade unions were made during this period. The success of the Bolshevik Revolution that took place in Russia in 1917, low wages, rising prices and sub-human working conditions of the workers brought the 'thinking educated' and 'energetic workers' on a single platform. Thus, an 'All-India Trade Union Congress' was founded in 1920 at Bombay. This was a landmark moment since it was the first all-India trade union. Lala Lajpat Rai was the President and Diwan Chamanlal, the Secretary of this trade union. N.M. Joshi and Joseph Baptista also played an important role in the formation of AITUC. The aim of the AITUC was to coordinate activities of all organizations and to further the interests of Indian labor in matters of economic, social and political relevance to the country's progress. As Lala Lajpat Rai rightly pointed out in his Presidential address "Indian labor should lose no time to organize itself on a national scale... the greatest need in this country is to organize, agitate, and educate. We must organize our workers, make them class-conscious. The Communist Party, led by M.N. Roy, Abni Mukherji and Mohammad Ali played an important role in strengthening and organizing the Trade Union Movement in India. They formed workers and peasant parties in February 1926 first in Bengal, then in other parts of India. Finally, an All-India Workers and Peasant Party was formed in December 1928. Shripad Amrit Dange, Muzaffar Ahmad, Puranchand Joshi and Sohan Singh Joshi were its important leaders. The activities of trade unions increased with the Trade Union Act, 1926, which legalized registered trade unions and permitted strikes. In April 1928, one of the biggest ever strikes was organized in Bombay in which 1.5 lakh workers participated. Like any other organization, trade unions too were not immune to division. Its first division took place in 1929 when N.M. Joshi, V.V. Giri and M. Kranti Bose left the AlTUC and formed the Indian Trade Union Federation (ITUF) under the Presidentship of V.V. Giri. The division took place on the issue of 'Royal Commission on Labour'. Liberals like V.V. Giri and N.M. Joshi wanted to join and support the Commission; the radicals, on the other hand, were completely against it and wanted to boycott it. Another division was made in 1931 in the tenth session of AITUC at Calcutta. The Communist, led by Deshpande formed the Red Trade Union Page 2  History by M.A Ansari Congress. The communist influence in the Trade Union Movement had become very strong by the end of 1928. The Girni Kamgar Union of the Communist also became very popular. Its membership rose to 54,000 by the end of 1928. Communist influence, especially in Bengal and Bombay, also spread to workers in the railways, jute mills, municipalities, paper mills, etc. The workers under the Communist influence participated in a large number of strikes and demonstrations all over the country between 1927 and 1929. The Government's policy regarding workers' rights and Trade Union Movement was dubious. The Indian textile industry, which had access to cheap and talented labor, was a threat to the Lancashire textile capitalist lobby. Under pressure from the English capitalist, the first commission, related to the condition of workers, was appointed in 1875. Subsequently, the First Factory Act was passed in 1881, which prohibited the employment of children under the age of seven, and limited the number of working hours for children below the age of twelve. There was also a provision to fence the dangerous machinery to avoid accidents. The Second Factory Act of 1891 limited a working day to 11 hours for women labor. It also gave them an interval of 1½ hours during working hours. Such so-called labor reforms were actually introduced to harass the Indian capitalist rather than provide relief to the industrial workers. The laborers of tea plantations lived in the worst conditions, but they hardly saw any corrective measures being implemented because the planters were British. To check the activities of the Trade Union Movement and the Leftist influence in it, the Government adopted repressive policies through the Acts like 'Trade Disputes Act' and 'Public Safety Act'. They arrested the radical leadership of the labor movement. Even the purpose of the Royal Commission on Labour (Whitley Commission,1929) was more to divide the Trade Union Movement and weaken it from inside. The role of Nationalists and the National Movement in the growth of the Trade Union Movement was also not free from controversy. Most of the early Nationalist newspapers actively opposed the Factories Acts of 1881 and 1891. They also opposed strikes in the Indian textile mills. If there were Indian laborers employed in the British owned industries or farms, Nationalists did not hesitate in giving their full support to the workers. The workers, on the other hand, actively participated in the Nationalist Movement. They actively participated in the Rowlatt Satyagraha (April 6, 1919), and the Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-22). Page 3  History by M.A Ansari Despite the Communist's non-participation in the Civil Disobedience Movement and Quit India Movement, the workers actively participated in both, on their own, as well as under the able leadership of Gandhi. They went on strikes and hartals at Delhi, Lucknow, Kanpur, Bombay, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Jamshedpur, Madras, Indore and Bangalore during the Quit India Movement in 1942. They showed vibrant enthusiasm during the INA trial and solidarity with the mutiny of the naval ratings in 1946. On February 22, 1946, about two to three lakh workers put down their tools in response to a call given by the Communists and the Socialists. THE KISAN MOVEMENTS The Kisans or the peasants of the twentieth century organized many rebellions against their oppressors as did their ancestors, in the nineteenth century. They were, however, more class-conscious and organized than their predecessors. The kisans of the twentieth century also participated actively in the Nationalist, especially Gandhian movement. Many Nationalist leaders were actively involved in the Peasant Movements and with their guidance and assistance, peasants learnt to mobilize themselves on a much larger level. They even formed an all-India platform to voice their own rights. Some of the famous Peasant Movements of the twentieth century, before Indian independence, were the Oudh Kisan Movement, Moplah Movement, Bardoli Satyagraha, All-India Kisan Sabha, Telangana Movement and Bakasht Movement. Oudh Kisan Movement The modern day Eastern and Central U.P. was earlier known as Oudh. The big and powerful landlords or Taluqedars were mainly responsible for the miserable condition of the cultivators. Arbitrary ejectments or Bedakhli, exorbitant rents, illegal levies, renewal fees or nazarana were among the many forms of exploitation meted out to the people in this region. If this was not enough, the rising prices of food items during World War I made their life more miserable. The peasants were completely fed up and frustrated by the regular exploitation and finally got together under the leadership of Gauri Shankar Misra, Indra Narain Dwivedi and Madan Mohan Malaviya to form "U.P. Kisan Sabha' in February 1918. But it was Baba Ram Chandra who emerged as their real peasant leader. Born in Maharashtra, he lived the life of a Sanyasi among the peasants after his return from Fiji in 1917-18. He roamed from village to village with Ramcharitramanas in his hands, mobilized the peasants of Jaunpur and Pratapgarh in June 1920 and reached Allahabad. Page 4  History by M.A Ansari On their request, Jawaharlal Nehru too agreed to join their movement. He visited many villages and met thousands of workers of the Kisan Sabha. On October 17, 1920, the Oudh Kisan Sabha was formed in Pratapgarh, which was further merged with U.P. Kisan Sabha. They put the following appeal before the peasants. 1- Refuse to work till their bedakhli from their lands is not stopped 2- Not to do begar (unpaid labor); 3- Refuse to work till the provision of panchayats is not made to solve their disputes; and 4- To boycott those peasants who did not accept these terms in order to strengthen the peasant workforce. The movement was linked with the Non-Cooperation Movement and was very strong in Rae Bareilly, Faizabad and Sultanpur, where it became violent. The peasants looted granaries, local bazaars and clashed with the police. Many peasants were shot dead at Munshiganj (Rae Bareilly) on January 7, 1921. Under the pressure that the peasants created, the Government passed the Oudh Rent (Amendment) Act in 1922, which at least gave an assurance of some relief. The peasants again organized themselves at Hardoi, Sitapur, Barabanki and Bahraich. The movement was known as 'Eka Movement' and was organized by Madari Pasi against the extraction of rent that was fifty per cent higher than the recorded rent. The peasants took an oath to not do the beggar. They would not leave the field in case of eviction from the land and would not, in any case, pay more than the fixed revenue. It is evident from this that they were not demanding any structural changes but were only protesting against the exploitation. The Moplah (Mappila) Uprising, 1921 Moplahs were Muslim leaseholders or Kanamdars and cultivators or Verumpattamdars of South Malabar (Kerala). The local zamindars, mostly Hindus, had resorted to various means of exploitation like high rent, renewal fees, and lack of any security of tenure. The Moplah had a long history of rebellion and often their class struggle ended as communal struggle. The Khilafat issue had united many Muslims of the Indian sub-continent including the Moplahs. Under the leadership of Yakub Hasan, U. Gopala Menon, P. Moinuddin Koya and K. Madhavan Nair, they started their movement against both their immediate oppressors and colonial rule. The Moplahs, when they became violent, attacked policemen, destroyed Government offices, burnt records and even looted the treasury. Page 5  History by M.A Ansari They became more violent when they got the news of the arrest of their political-cum-spiritual leader Ali Musaliar and the raid and destruction of Mambrath mosque by the British army, though, the latter proved to be only a rumor. While attacking their oppressors, who were mostly Hindu landlords, the Moplahs took special care to see that Hindus were not molested or looted. Kun Hammad Haji even punished those Mophlah people who attacked the Hindus. But after martial law was imposed, it became more communal and violent. Congress party had to isolate itself from the Moplahs, partly because there were many zamindars in the party and partly because it became more communal. The Government took advantage of the situation and suppressed the movement. Bardoli Satyagraha, 1928 Bardoli was a taluka in the Surat district of Gujarat where the Gandhian method of living was very successful ever since the days of Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-22). The Gandhian program was constructive and humanitarian and its features naturally attracted the common peasant. Almost fifty per cent of the cultivators in Bardoli constituted of the 'Dubla Tribe', also known as Kalipraj (black people) who were mainly debt serfs. They were extremely backward and were worst hit by the rise in the land revenue by 22 per cent. The Kalipraj, though, got a respectable name-'Ranipraj" (forest dwellers) by Gandhian workers, but it hardly solved their actual problems. They lived in abject poverty and were not in a position to pay high land revenue and a sharp fall in the prices of cotton, grain, and jute worsened their situation. The peasants invited Sardar Patel, a barrister and a Gandhian too, to lead the movement. He divided the taluka into 13 camps and made experienced leaders responsible for mobilizing the peasants. Those leaders were true Satyagrahis Who mobilized the peasants through meetings, pamphlets and door-to-door campaigns. The peasants demanded the appointment of an independent tribunal against the revised assessment. The peasants took oath in the name of their respective gods that they would not pay the land revenue. Those villagers who paid taxes were boycotted by the rest. They also published the Satyagraha Patrika', which contained the speeches of the leaders and reports of the movement. Women, as in other Gandhian Satyagraha, were active in Bardoli Satyagraha as well. Shardaben, Parsi Mithuben, Sharda Mehta and Maniben Patel (daughter of Sardar Patel) were the leading ladies of Bardoli Satyagraha. It was the women of Bardoli who gave Vallabh Bhai Patel the title of 'Sardar'. Gandhi reached Bardoli in August 1928 and warned the Government not to arrest Patel. The Government under pressure, enquired the matter through a Revenue official Maxwell, who too opposed the increase in land revenue and finally, the land revenue was reduced. Page 6  History by M.A Ansari The peasants of other states too were organizing themselves and forming their sabhas or associations, like Bihar Kisan Sabha and Andhra Rayyat Association. The peasant leaders of various states met at Lucknow in 1936 and formed the All-India Kisan Sabha. Swami Sahjanand Saraswati became its first President and N.G. Ranga, its first Secretary. The Sabha declared the following agenda: (1) To end the zamindari system. (2) To introduce the Malguzari system. (3) To end the reign of Mahajans. (4) To distribute Government land among landless peasants. (5) To end all anti-peasant and labor laws. Bakasht Movement (1946-47) The land given by the zamindars to the cultivators was called Bakasht. The zamindars collected rent in return. Under this system, the zamindars had the right to evict them from the land and bring new tillers who were willing to pay more rent besides additional tributes. Serious riots broke out in May 1946, between the peasants and the zamindars on account of the Bakasht Kar at Gaya, Munger, Shahabad, Durbhanga, Muzaffar, Madhubani and Bhagalpur in Bihar. The Government abolished the zamindari system in 1948. The peasants thus got relief, although a little late. There was a close relationship between the Kisan Movement and the Nationalist Movement. The peasants and their various associations, especially the All-India Kisan Sabha actively participated in the Gandhian movement. They enthusiastically campaigned in the 1937 elections and had pinned their hopes on the Congress ministries. Despite the fact that their leader did not join the Quit India Movement, the peasants actively participated in the movement. Yet, their real issues were not dealt with properly by the Congress leadership. Other than a few leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhash Chandra Bose, most of the Congress leaders including Gandhi, only made tall claims and promises for them. Nationalist historians argue that Gandhi did not talk about the abolishment of the zamindari system only because he wanted to avoid class struggle. He did, however, realize in the latter part of his career that the zamindari system had to go if the peasants were to get their due. THE ECONOMIC PROGRAMME OF THE CONGRESS KARACHI RESOLUTION, 1931 The Karachi session of the Indian National Congress, presided by Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, became memorable for its Resolution on two very important issues- 'Fundamental Rights' and the 'National Economic Programme'. The true meaning of 'Swarajya' (self-rule) was defined in this session. The session also declared that, "in order to end the exploitation of the masses, Page 7  History by M.A Ansari political freedom must include real economic freedom of starving millions." The Resolution passed at Karachi aimed at: 1. Substantial reduction in rent and revenue 2. Exemption from rent in case of uneconomic holdings 3. Relief from agricultural debts 4. Control of usury (lending money at an excessively high interest rate, often considered unethical or illegal) 5. Better conditions for workers including a living wage 6. State ownership of big and key industries, mines and means of transport 7. Limited hours of work and protection of women workers 8. The right to organize and form unions of workers and peasants The Resolution attracted adverse criticism from different quarters. Many people thought that it was the handiwork of M.N. Roy attended the session at the invitation of Jawaharlal Nehru. Ambalal Sarabhai called the Resolution 'a government on Russian model.' In reality, however, the Resolution was far from Socialism. The real issue of abolishing the zamindari system was not touched. The wordings related to State control over key industries and mineral resources were vague. The promises made to and for the workers, like living wages, ending bonded labor, right to form trade unions were good but nothing more than promises. It appeared that utmost care was taken to keep the Capitalist System intact. It is important to note that the Resolution was drafted by Jawaharlal Nehru and revised by Gandhi. It was a clear compromise between the Socialist ideas and the economic interest of Capitalists and the feudals. M.N. Roy called it a confused document, which promised British imperialism and native feudalism and called it an 'instrument of deception'. Despite all its shortcomings in the economic programme, the Karachi Resolution will always be remembered for the basic civil rights, which it guaranteed. They were as follows: 1. Freedom of speech and thought 2. Freedom of Assembly and associations 3. Equality before law 4. Neutrality of the State with regard to all the religions 5. Elections on the basis of universal adult franchise 6. Free and compulsory primary education 7. Protection for the minorities Thus, the basic political and economic programme of the Indian National Congress, was based on the Karachi Resolution. The Constituent Assembly (December 9, 1946-November 26, 1949) adopted most of the Karachi Resolution in the Preamble, Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of the Indian Constitution. Page 8  History by M.A Ansari Fact Sheet Peasant Movement and Kisan Sabha Workers of the Home Rule League were very active in Awadh and they started to organize peasants. Uttar Pradesh Kisan Sabha was formed in February 1918 by the efforts of Indra Narayan Dwivedi, Gauri Shankar Mishra and Madan Mohan Malviya. In Pratapgarh District of Oudh ‘Nai-Dhobi band’ , a social boycott movement was started against the exploiting landlords. Jhinguri Singh and Durgapal played an important role in this movement, but later on, a new face, Baba Ramchandra emerged who operated the movement wisely and made it strong and combative. Baba Ramchandra was a Brahmin from Maharashtra. In mid 1920, he emerged as a peasant’s leader and started organizing peasants in Oudh. Rent was generally fifty percent higher than the recorded rent, He had extraordinary organizational capability. In 1920, with his efforts, Oudh Kisan Sabha was established. Shahajanand Saraswati was the founder of Kisan Sabha of Bihar. In his Agricultural Reform programme, the main aim was the eradication of the Zamindari system and to bring ownership rights to the farmers. For his devoted services to farmers he is also called as ‘Kisan-Pran’. In 1936, All India Kisan Congress was formed which was later renamed as All India Kisan Sabha in Lucknow. Swami Sahajanand was its President and N.G. Ranga was its General Secretary. All India Kisan Sabha held its session at the same time as the Congress session in Faizpur which was chaired by N.G. Ranga. The Eka movement (1921-22) was led by Madari Pasi of a backward class family. The main center of this movement was Hardoi, Barabanki, Bahraich and Sitapur. Main complaints of farmers included the increment in rent and the system of collection of rent in produce. Rent was 50% higher than the recorded rent generally. In this movement, people didn’t refuse to pay rent and insisted on collecting the revenue in cash because of high inflation. Vallabh Bhai Patel led the peasant movements in 1928 from Bardoli which later on became popular as Bardoli Satyagraha. With the success of this movement, the women of Bardoli gave the title of ‘Sardar’ to Vallabh Bhai Patel. In September 1946, the Provincial Kisan Sabha of Bengal started the ‘Tebhaga Movement’. In this movement share-croppers demanded that the share of the Zamindars be reduced to one- third from the present half of the produce. Rest of the Page 9  History by M.A Ansari produce i.e. two-third should go to the ShareCropper. The Districts of North Bengal were most affected by this movement. Acharya Vinoba Bhave visited Nalgonda district of Telangana on 18th April, 1951 in relation to the Sarvodaya Conference. This district was then the center of communist activities. Vinobha ji stayed at Pochampally village. Ramchandra Reddy, a Zamindar of that village, donated 100 acres of land to 40 Harijan families to solve their problems with the land. From October 1951 to 1957 Vinobha Bhave continued the Bhoodan Movement to gather 50 million acres of land for donation to landless laborers. Trade Unions Madras Labour Union was formed in 1918 under the leadership of B.P. Wadia and it became the First modern labor Union. Buckingham and Carnatic Clothe Mill laborers were part of this union. Mahatma Gandhi founded Ahmedabad Textile Labour Association in 1918. *All India Trade Union Congress was founded by N.M. Joshi on 31st October, 1920 at Bombay. The motive behind its formation was the establishment of the International Labour Organization in 1919. So Indian laborers decided to organize themselves as labor unions. Lala Lajpat Rai was the first President of All India Trade Union Congress and Joseph Baptista was the Vice President. Dewan Chaman Lal was its General Secretary. This organization was divided for the first time in 1929 at Nagpur, Jawahar Lal Nehru was president at that time. Page 10