Coal Industry in India Essay

The coal industry in India witnessed its inception in 1774. However, it took almost a century for this industry to rise above its infancy and proclaim its actual arrival around the second half of the 19th century. What followed was the story of remarkable growth albeit with its share of ups and downs down the line. The flipside of this account of prosperity has not, however, escaped the scrutiny of historians. The oppressive attitudes of the coal-producing lobby and the miners’ miserable conditions have time and again found their place in prevalent labour historiography. Intriguing themes, for instance, production relations, migration of labour, manipulation around the recruitment of labour, workers’ resistance movements and debates around women and child labour have further enriched the discourse. This project aims to add a new dimension to this ongoing debate. The prime objective of this study is to unearth the history of hygiene issues at workplaces in the coalfields of Raniganj and Jharia districts in eastern India and of hygiene in their adjacent regions in eastern India, 1901 and 1973. The expansion of the industry was not without its adverse effects on human as well as natural resources. This project thus, has as its focus the health of the miner as well as the health of the mineral, i.e. coal, with its attendant thrusts on industrial hygiene and mine technology. Going beyond the colonial time-frame, this study also attempts an investigation into miners’ working and living standards in the first quarter of postindependent India. Moreover, a parallel will be drawn between miners’ living conditions at collieries of eastern India and those of Natal in South Africa. It will be interesting to look into two diverse pictures in these different colonial settlements. As far as labour legislation and methods of mining are concerned, a comparative study with Britain is on the cards. The first research question that this study aims to address is the health of the miners. Engaged in hazardous underground mining activities, the miners were exposed to serious and fatal accidents. The collapse of roofs and the sides was the most common form of accidents. Next in importance were accidents in haulage routes and shafts as well as explosions. The pertinent question is what played the pivotal part in those cases of accidents: was it the miners’ lack of mining knowledge, was it the subordinate officials’ paucity of proper supervision or was it the lack of adequate attention of the mine-owners and mine-managers to the workers’ safety concerns? In his report of 1912, the Chief Inspector of Mines coined categories of accidents for example those due to misadventure, due to the fault of the deceased, due to the fault of the fellow workmen and due to the fault of the subordinate officials (sirdars). The newly-formed categories singled out â€Å"managerial fault† as a distinct category which consisted of accidents fewer in number in relation to others. The intention was clear. It was to hold the miner primarily responsible for his misfortunes. But the colliery owners and managers hardly provided them with the proper training in the mining principles. It was only in 1909 that a book on mining practices was proposed to be brought out in Bengali. This is not to forget that a large chunk of miners used to migrate from regions outside Bengal like the Central Provinces. The principal reason for ascribing responsibility to the miners was to not have to pay compensation in case of permanent disablement or death. The case was just the reverse in Britain. The scope of the Workmen’s Compensation Act of 1923 was broadened for the Indian coal miners only after independence. True, some of these accidents pointed to the responsibility of the miners like in cases of pillar-robbing or drinking while working, but even when managerial fault was indicated, the penalty was minimal. The management even failed on a number of occasions to report cases of serious and fatal accidents without delay. Besides, any attempt at protective labour legislation in the coal industry was hampered by fierce opposition from the coalproducing lobby consisting of both Europeans and Indians. Issues related to the regulation of involvement of women and children underground, maternity leave, restriction on hours of work etc. found stern protesters in the colliery-owners. The government was hardly in a position to frustrate the claims of their close collaborators. This story of the colonial government-capitalist class nexus will help us go beyond the traditional nationalist versus imperialist historiographical framework and highlight the complexities of the issues involved in the question of governmental legislation to ensure higher safety conditions in mines. Increasing number of accidents in Indian collieries was often ascribed to the prevalent methods of mining which were often termed as â€Å"faulty†. This brings us to the next crucial question i.e. the health of the mineral. The usual mining method that was followed in Indian coal mines was the bord and pillar system. Coal was cut into pillars but the co-existence of small pillars and large galleries augmented the risk of collapse as well as that of loss of significant amount of coal. We can draw a parallel with the standard method of mining in Britain which was called the panel system. I t was a system where isolation of workings was possible. Every outlet was hermetically sealed that left solid ribs of coal of varying thickness between panels which used to be cut into pillars and immediately extracted. This method was often recommended for the Indian situation. The relevant question in this context is the supposed shortcomings of the bord and pillar system. Was the panel system practicable in Indian conditions? Furthermore, Miners were often accused of improper ways in which they handled the cutting and extracting of coal. Here again the question of their lack of access to any kind of training becomes vital. Moreover, the never-ending demand for higher productivity often forced the workers to work in the abandoned part of mines, a practice that had its inevitable effects on both the health of the miners and that of the mineral. What was more surprising was most of the coal mines in Raniganj and Jharia were run without any proper plans of the mines. Frequently, both seams were worked simultaneously with the working of the one being above the working of the other. This caused the workings to be unstable resulting in loss of a huge quantity of coal. The practice of lease was such that the demarcation line between two neighbouring collieries often turned out to be indistinct. It was noticed that instead of leaving barriers untouched as intended, the work was continued up to or even over the boundary. A thin barrier was dangerous for it was liable to suddenly give way under water pressure. The question of exhaustion of coal and the need for its conservation leads us to the next important research problem i.e. the evolution of mine technology. Sand-stowing is one such safeguard that ensures safety in workplace as well as conservation of coal. The institution of the Coal Mines Stowing Board and the subsequent Coal Mines Safety (Stowing) Act of 1939 was, however, intended to guarantee only protection against accidents at mines. It was only after independence that adequate attention was paid to conservation of coal with the Coal Mines (Conservation and Safety) Act of 1952. The Coal Mines Stowing Board was replaced by the Coal Board in 1951 in an attempt to function more effectively during the period under review. On the other hand, the persistent problem with the safety management at Indian collieries was that none of the appliances, tools and materials required for combating fire, gas, or water in collieries was kept at any of the mines in the Raniganj and Jharia coal fields. A number of large collieries adopted safety lamps in place of naked lights to avoid the danger of explosion but they were not regularly examined before being taken into the workings. Mine owners or managers often failed to post notices specifying limit s of timber withdrawal for each seam or district of a seam or the maximum intervening distances between props or other roof supports at the working places. Even for winding purpose, makeshift appliances like haulage ropes were used in place of winding ropes on a number of occasions, thus inviting unfortunate consequences. The mine authority, nonetheless, had the miners to blame for their technological deficiencies. Even the Chief Inspector of Mines had some interesting and often contradictory remarks to make regarding the use of machinery by Indian miners. On the one hand he thought that the cheapness of Indian labour prevented use of machines while on the other he found comfort in the saying that, â€Å"Handling a miner’s tool was more of a matter of skill than was generally supposed†¦.and the Indian coal miner was clumsy with his weapons; but when doing work to which he and his forefathers had been accustomed [e.g. loading or carrying material] he was capable of showing good results.† But the fact that the Indian miner could be induced to abandon the tools of his forefathers was seen is most Indian collieries where English shovels were commonly used, and where the pointed crow bar was replaced by double pointed picks. Hence the question of availability of mine and safety technology, and more importantly, that of the proper application of technologies in possession turns out to be the critical imperatives. Even attempts at introduction of new technology often drew severe flak from various quarters. Coal commissioners were suggesting the extension of the boiler act to colliery districts. The steam boilers which were in use in collieries required the fitting of a second safety valve to all boilers, second one preferably to be of the lock-up type. The Indian Mining Association took up the matter and protested strongly against any such intervention. They were of the opinion that the danger of accident had been sufficiently minimized without the precaution. Furthermore, mere introduction of certain apparatus was not enough e.g. Jeffrey Company’s electric coal-cutter was introduced at some collieries. But it was not successful on account of difficulty of repair and removal of the machine. Moreover, mechanical coal cutters were more suited to Longwall method as in Britain than to the bord and pillar system that was adopted in Bengal. However, introduction of machinery like Welsh ovens for coking purposes in the Giridih coal field was hugely successful although the usual practice elsewhere was predominantly open ovens. Thus the issues involved in the adoption of mining technology is required to be studied in close association with the safety of the miner and the conservation of the mineral in order to get an overall picture of the question of industrial hygiene in the Raniganj and Jharia coal-fields. A study of occupational hazards is incomplete without an investigation into occupational diseases (for instance; Pneumoconiosis, ankylostomiasis, lungs’ diseases etc.) and diseases that affected the workers’ habitation. Our understanding of the question would be furthered by exploring the disease management policy of the mining authorities. Workers’ huts or â€Å"dhowrah† were not initially part of the colliery districts but later on became integral division of the districts. As far as workers’ housing arrangements were concerned, the official version of the â€Å"comfortable† brick hut was constantly clashing with the workers’ version of the â€Å"squalid† mud hut. The miners’ perception of hygiene and sanitation formed the principal subject matter of the official critique. True, the miners fell short on the counts of their health and hygiene standards, but the real problem lies with the alternative settlement that the nexus of colonial government and mine authorities provided. The one room tenement with common latrine facilities did not turn out to be a more hygienic alternative to the previous mud hut. Here, we can draw a parallel between the colli eries of Bengal and those of Natal in South Africa. A large number of Indian miners started migrating to Natal around the first decade of the 20th century because of better working and living conditions there. The question of health and hygiene standards of the adjacent colliery districts is worth exploring, too. Outbreak of diseases in the neighbourhood had its decisive effect on the workplace hygiene. A mere rumour of outbreak of Cholera in the vicinity used to result in widespread desertion of collieries and its surroundings by the miners, thus having disastrous effects on the production process. Hence, a detailed study on the connections between colliery hygiene of the areas under study and that of the wider region becomes essential. This connection was all the more evident in the post-independence period. The civil hospital of Dhanbad had a number of seats reserved for the colliers of Jharia mines. The mines used also to gain a great deal from the water supply scheme in the neighbourhood or for the purpose of supply of electricity. Systems of water supply, sewerage systems, sanitary measures, and disease policies in the adjacent areas undoubtedly had their impact on workplaces and the other way round. Furthermore, coal mining and its impact on the wider environment induced the government to formulate public health measures in tune with the necessities of the coal mining industry as well as with the requirements of the adjoining regions. These two linked and often conflicting aspects will be explored through the story of dilemmas, preferences, strategies and decision-making at the government level. Particular attention to the functioning and implementation of various safety measures at collieries in post-colonia l India forms the conclusive part of this project. Was the working and living conditions of the coal mine workers improved in any way in the immediate post-independence period? What was the status of labour legislation in relation to workers’ health and safety concerns? Apparently the colliers were better placed with the growing effectiveness of the Workmen’s Compensation Act. Women miners gained significantly from regular functioning of the Mines Maternity Benefit Act of 1941. Jharia and Raniganj Mines Boards of Health looked in better shape in postindependence years. Particular attention must be paid to the activities of the Coal Mines Labour Welfare Fund. Establishment and proper functioning of central and regional hospitals of Jharia and Raniganj were regulated under the auspices of this fund. Dispensary services like the one at Bhuli in Jharia improved a lot as well. We can also come across instances like spraying operations to prevent Malaria or B.C.G. vaccination to combat Tuberculosis or the setting up of the mo bile laboratory teams in the Jharia and Raniganj coalfields which point to improvement in the condition of health and hygiene in colliery districts. Working of the Coal Mines Pithead Bath Rules, 1946 and of the Mines Creche Rules, 1946 must be mentioned. Especially, provision of crà ¨ches demands particular attention in relation to women labour. They had a place for their children to be taken care of while they were busy working. Despite such favourable proceedings, miners’ wretchedness was far from being reduced. A remarkable increase in opencast mining with its associated dangers furthered the misery of the miners. Added to this were dissatisfactory mining conditions e.g. slaughter mining, violation of mine safety laws etc. The result was nationalization of Coking coal mines in 1972 and that of non-coking coal mines in 1973. Health and hygiene related themes in Indian coal mines during the colonial and postcolonial period have not found a substantial space in existing scholarship. The only work that stands out is an article by Colin Simmons (1976) where he devotes himself to the study of coal mines accidents, workplace safety and labour legislation. His other works are also of seminal importance particularly for the understanding of the nature of the labour force and ownership of colliery land. As to issues relating to practices of landleases and tenancy rights, the work of Dietmar Rothermund (year) is intriguing indeed. Rakhi Raychowdhury (1996), in her work on the women labour of eastern Indian coal mines, has a chapter devoted to matters concerning work schedule, rest and leave and accidents. While Dilip Simeon’s principal focus was production relations (1997) and labour movement (1999) in Jharia coalfields, he gave some attention to the safety concerns of Indian collieries. (1999). He even addressed the post-colonial situation. But a detailed study on industrial hygiene in relation to coalfields awaits scholarly attention. In the process of tracing the growth of coal industry in India, A.B. Ghosh(1977) referred to lists of accidents in coal mines and also to some examples of technological evolution but he made no attempt to derive a connection between accidents, safety issues and introduction of technology which this project intends to address. Deepika Basu’s (1993) occasional mention of health issues in coal and other mines is meant to broaden the understanding of the growth of the working class in India. Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt’s (2001) concern over water problems, sewerage systems etc. gives us a fair idea about the gradual process of urbanization in the Raniganj coalfields. She has also established a relation between growing mechanization of coal industry and decreasing importance of women labour. But the connection between mechanization and safety issues remains to be explored. It is a principal aim of this proposed project to analyze the same issues in the light of the themes of health and hygiene. In her case study on Kolar gold mines, Janaki Nair (1998) writes extensively on accident related issues in the work place and the process of sanitation outside the workplace, mainly in the workers residence. Nair, however, views these themes within the Foucauldian paradigm of â€Å"surveillance and resistance†. Anti-plague measures or sanitizing efforts of the mining authorities was, according to Nair, an intrusion into the private life of the mine workers. She saw in the sanitary zeal of the persons concerned an extension of the â€Å"barrack like discipline† (even though mines cannot be considered barrack like structures) of the workplace to the territory beyond. This project will attempt to move beyond such stereotypical formulations and instead attempt in-depth analyses of the questions raised that will be based on solid empirical research informed by an awareness of the theoretical issues involved. The work has been conceptualized in a manner that it will pull toge ther issues that have been dealt with in discrete, scattered contexts. As far as historical works on Indian public health system are concerned, we are familiar with a significant body of literature about public health systems of major cities like that of Calcutta (Kabita Ray, 1998), and of Bombay (Mridula Ramanna, 2002). A discussion on public health systems of industrially-rich regions is supposed to be first of its kind. Mark Harrison (1994) pioneered a comprehensive account of the system of public health in India starting from disease management in military garrisons to vaccination policies, preventive measures against plague in wider regions. The mining sector however has not featured in his work. Industrial hygiene and in this case, health and hygiene issues in collieries and in their adjoining regions is an unexplored arena. The proposed research aims to combine specifically two kinds of historiography within the span of its methodology. One is the historical literature on mines and the other is the historical accounts of science, medicine, techn ology, and of public health systems in India. While works on mines have overlooked aspects of hygiene and technology, the history of science, medicine and technology has yet to incorporate the industrial sector or industrial hygiene within its orbit. This endeavour, therefore, proposes to fill in the void in the existing historical literature by combining elements of both these fields of research. On another level, this discussion on industrial health and hygiene will seek to include within the scope of its analysis the role of extra-economic factors in the understanding of the working classes in India. Last but not least, a comparison with the coal mines of Britain and South Africa follows from the logic of the analysis of the factors affecting the Indian collieries which I have discussed before. In its attempt at juxtaposing global phenomena, this venture treads the path shown by Peter Alexander (2004). This research thus seeks to situate the post-colonial situation of eastern Indian coalfields within the global context. Such a work is also of relevance to current global concerns that seek to foreground the question of safeguarding the environment in the context of the global-capitalist hunt to maximize profits from commercial ventures. Primary Sources The Coal Mines Labour Welfare Fund Act, 1947/ Act No. 32 of 1947.Delhi. The Coal Mines Safety (Stowing) Rules. Delhi, 1939. East India Railway: the Coalfields of Bengal and Chota Nagpur Served by the East India Railway. Calcutta, 1926. First Report of the committee appointed to investigate the dangers arising from coal-dust in Indian Mines. Govt. of India, Department of Industries and Labour. Calcutta: 1924. (Simpson Committee). Indian Mines Act. By W.H.Pickerink and W.Graham, 1907. Papers Regarding Legislation for the Regulation and Sanitation of Mines in India. Govt. of India: Department of Revenue and Agriculture. Calcutta: Office of the Superintendent of Govt. Printing, 1896. Report of the Chief Inspector of Mines in India under the India Mines Act, VIII of 1901. Calcutta: Office of the Superintendent of Govt. Printing, (1901 onwards). Report o the Coalfield Committee. Calcutta: Govt. Printing, 1920. Report of the Coal Mining Committee. Delhi: Manager of Publicat ions, 1937. Report of the Indian Coal Committee, 1925. Reports on the Production and Consumption of Coal in India. Report on the Inspection of Mines in India. Calcutta: Office of the Superintendent of Govt. Printing, (1894-1900). Rules Framed by the Govt. of Bengal under Section 30 of the Indian Mines Act, 1923 (IV of 1923) applicable to Coal Mines and Mines other than Coal Mines, Corrected up to 30th June, 1940. Second Report of the committee appointed to investigate the dangers arising from coal-dust in Indian Mines. Govt. of India, Department of Industries and Labour. Calcutta: 1929. (Simpson Committee). Special Rules for Coal Mines under Section 21 of the Indian Mines Act, 1901 (VIII of 1901), 1918. Third and Final Report of the committee appointed to investigate the dangers arising from coal-dust in Indian Mines. Govt. of India, Department of Industries and Labour. Calcutta: 1932. Journals and Bulletins Bulletins of Indian Industries and Labour: ï‚ · ï‚ · Indian Factory Legislation: A Historical Survey. By A.G.Clow. 1926. Reduction of Hours of Work in Mines, 1932. Bulletins of the Department of Industries, Bengal: ï‚ · Catalogue of the Indian Manufacturers (compiled in the office of the DirectorGeneral of Commercial Intelligence), 1911. Secondary Sources Alexander, Peter and Halpern, Rick, ‘Introduction: Comparing Race and Labour in South Africa and the United States’ in Journal of Southern African Studies, Volume 30, Number 1, p. 5-18, March 2004. Alexander, Peter, ‘Race, Class Loyalty and the Structure of Capitalism: Coal Miners in Alabama and the Transvaal, 1918-1922’ in Journal of Southern African Studies, Volume 30, Number 1, p. 115-132, March 2004. Basu, Deepika, The Working Class in Bengal: Formative Years, Calcutta, 1993. Ghosh, A.B., Coal Industry in India: A Historical and Analytical Account, Calcutta, vol. 1, 1977 & vol. 2, 1990. Guha, B.P., Wage rates in the Indian coal mining industry, Priya, 1973. Harrison, Mark, Public Health in British India: Anglo-Indian Preventive Medicine 1859-1914, Cambridge, 1994. Lahiri-Dutt, Kuntala, Mining and Urbanization in the Raniganj coalbelt. Calcutta, 2001. Nair, Janaki, Mines and Millhands: Work Culture and Politics in Princely Mysore. New Delhi, 1998. Ramanna, Mridula, Western Medicine and Public Health in Colonial Bombay, 18451895. Hyderabad, 2002. Ray, Kabita, History of Public Health: Colonial Bengal, 1921-1947.Kolkata, 1998. Raychowdhury, Rakhi, Gender and Labour in India: the Kamins of Eastern Coalmines, 1900-1940. Kolkata, 1996. Rothermund, Dietmar, ‘Tenancy Legislation for Chota Nagpur: the Emphasis on Executive Protection’ in Zamindars, Mines and Peasants: Studies in the History of an Indian Coalfield and Its Rural Hinterland, edited by Dietmar Rothermund and D.C. Wadhwa. New Delhi, 1978. Simeon, Dilip, The Politics of Labour Under Late Colonialism. Workers, Unions and the State in Chota Nagpur, 1928-1939. New Delhi, 1995. ibid. ‘Coal and Colonialism: Productions Relations in an Indian coalfield, c. 18951947’ in â€Å"Peripheral† Labour? : Studies in the History of Partial Proletarianization, edited by Shahid Amin and Marcel van der Linden. Cambridge, 1997. ibid. ‘Work and Resistance in the Jharia Coalfield’ in Contributions to Indian Sociology, vol. 33, no. 1-2, p. 43-75. 1999. Simmons, Colin, ‘Working Conditions, Accidents and ‘Protective’ Labour Legislation in the Indian Coal Mining Industry in the Pre-Independence Period’ in Bengal Past and Present, pt.1 (N.K. Sinha Memorial Vol.), p. 185-200, 1976. ibid. ‘Recruiting and Organizing an Industrial Labour Force in Colonial India: the Case of the Coal Mining Industry c. 1880-1939’ in The Indian Economic and Social History Review, vol. xiii, no. 4, p. 455-485 , 1976.