I. GROWTH OF BOOK-BINDING INDUSTRY CALOJTT Ashodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/14061/11/11_chapter 5.pdf · CHAPTER V BOOK-BINDING INDUSTRY IN CALOJTTA I. GROWTH OF BOOK-BINDING

CHAPTER V

BOOK-BINDING INDUSTRY IN CALOJTTA

I. GROWTH OF BOOK-BINDING INDUSTRY IN CALOJTT A:

The history of book-binding is intimately linked with

the history of book printing. The task of binding a book

is done only after it is printed. The printing indus try in

Bengal is a well established and is among the oldest indus­

tries. The first printing press established in Bengal at

Hoogly by a civil servant of the East India Canpany claims

the honour of printing the first book in the Bengali language

in 1778. 1 There is no evidence of a book printed earlier

than this date in Bengal either in Bengali or in English.

Later, the serampore Printing Press played a leading role

in printing Bengali and English books. It is estimated

that by the ye~ 1800, thece were about 21 printers in

Calcutta who had printed over 400 works. 2 Publication of

school ard college text-hooks from Calcutta started mainly

after the foundation of the Calcutta School Book society

in 1818. Befcre that most of the required text-hooks for

English schools, which controlled Calcutta• a education,

were imported. The Calcutta School Book Society acquired

control over all types of schools in Calcutta. The society

published many titles in different subjects and sold cr

distributed mare than one lakh books between tS17 and 1825. 3

Another powerful organisation, namely the Sanskrit Press,

27H

also contributed greatly to the publication of books in

Bengal. The Press Act of 1835 further gave an impetus ·

to this end. But the progre~s was rather tardy till the

second half of the 19th century when several Indian univer­

sities were establ !shed. Gradually, the printing industry

of Bengal expanded catering to the needs of entire eastern

India.

Though the printing industry in Calcutta has a long

history, the craft of book-binding could not attain the

status of a distinct industry till the beginning of the

present century. The task of binding a book was initially

done in printing presses. It should, however, be mentioned

that all the presses were not equipped- fa: book work. NJ

a result, only those presses which used to under take boolc

printing maintained separate binding departments inside

the press. But in the beginning of the twentieth century

separate book-binding units star ted coming up in the Bai tha­

kkhana and Raj abazar areas of Central Calcutta to cope with

the increasing volume of boOk production. Printing press

owners could no longer print and bind the large number of

school, college and university books, and books on fiction.

Therefore, they themselves encouraged their binders to open

separate boOk-binding units and placed binding orders with

them on a contract basis. 4 These binders were mostly

Muslims, caning mainly fran Dhaka and Mymensingh districts

280

of the then East Bengal (now Bangladesh). 5 Book-binding

became a hereditary craft fer them.

Bindery workshops based on family labOur mushroomed

around the important printing presses and publishing houses.

They were mainly concentrated in the Bai thakkhana and Raj a­

bazar areas of central Calcutta. The proximity of some

important educational institutions like Calcutta University,

Presidency College, Vidyasagar College, City College,

Calcutta Medical College and Sanskrit College in the area

called College Par a near Bai thakkhana ensured a big market

for book sellers and publishers. By establishing their

binderies near the Colle.9,! Para, the Muslim artisans could

avoid paying high transport charges. Since the binders were

called 'Daftaries•6

, the whole area where the binderies

came up, was also termed as .Qaftari-f.§rJ• This locality

is situated in the midst of four streets in Central Calcutta

(see map). On the northEE"n side of this locality is the

Keshab Chandra Street and on the western part Raj a Ranrnohan

Sarani. Acharya Prafullya Chandra Road is on the east and

the southern part of this locality is connected with Mahatma

Gandhi Road and Surya sen Street. There are several busy

lanes and by-lanes which criss-cross D§ftari ParJ.

Befcre Independence, Muslims dominated the trade almost

completely. The Bengali 'Bhadralok' of Calcutta evinced

no interest in establishing binderies. !rom t930s onwards

281

some Hindu migrants fran East Bengal started joining this

trade. Sri'kr ishna Binding, the first bindery owned by a

Hindu, was established in 1932. Following this some mere

binderies including Basanti Binding, East End Traders,

Bengal Binding and co., New Bengal Binders and New Calcutta

Book- Binding were set up by Hindu migrants from East Bengal.

The communal riot of 1946 and the partition of Bengal forced

a large number of Muslim book-binders to leave Calcutta for

East Pakistan. During those days, binding work almost came

to a halt. Sane of the printing houses then had to open

binding sections in their own establishments. Within a few

years, however, the Hindu refugees from East Pakistan took

control of the book-binding trade. They purchased all the

abandoned binding houses and also set up new binderies in

_Qaftari Para. It was easy for these refugees to set up

small binderies which required small amount of cap! tal.

Those of the refugees who lost their property in East

Pakistan, joined this trade as workers. They were, however,

not acquainted with the art of book-binding and learned the

7 craft from old workers. and workers of the

Lindustry in Calcutta are

Today, three-fourths of the employers

Hind us. e Fur ther, a good per ti on

of the ...orkers are Hindu migrants. Nearly 40 per cent of

my respondents reported that they were born in Bangaldesh.

Even today a good majority of the bindery workers are members

of Hindu refugee: families although they themselves were

born in India.

282

After Independence, the number of publishing houses,

printing house and binderies increased considerably.

Data on the total number of binderies and the number of

bindery workers in Calcutta prior to 1971 are not available.

The Bureau of Applied Economics and Statistics of Government

of west Bengal which undertook a survey of small indus trial

units in the urban areas of West Bengal in 1972 found that

in 1971 there were 62 small book-binding units in Calcutta

employing 1,678 workers, w1 th an average of 27 workers per

bindery. 9 But most of the binderies employed a handful of

workers only and, therefore, did not attract the provisions

of the Factories Act. The average number of workers emplo-

yed per bindery is high because of a few large binderies.

According to the Statistical Abstract compiled by the Bureau

in 1977, very few binderies were registered under the

Factories Act in west Bengal between 1974 to 1977. 10 The

following table shows the distribution.

--------------------------------------------------------Year

19'74

19'75

1976

19'77

Number

-------------------------11

11

8

8

-------------------------------------------------------

28J

The above table also shows that the number of binderies

in west Bengal registered under the Factories Act had gone

down over the years. The 1981 Census stated that out of

6, 918 'main workers• (a person who has worked for 183 d.ays

or more in a year) employed in the book-bind~ng trade

in West Bengal, 3,571 (5!.62%) were employed in Calcutta

(see Table 5. 2, for details), 11 very few ·of them (less than

3 per cent) were women workers. The Census data, however,

Table 5. 2: Distribution of Book-Bindi_n~~in Wcrkers rn-w~ t ~~:J198 ts~~!l. -----

~-----------------~-------------------------------Male Female Total

------------------- -------------------~-------------Whole State

Urban Areas

Calcutta

6,505

5, 07·4

3, 478

-----------------------------------

313 {4.5%)

257 {4. 8%)

93 (2.6%)

6, 918

5, 331

3, 571

appear to be under estimates. My estimate would be double

the census count. Even a cursory look at the workshops

gives an idea that more than 93 women w~k in the binderies.

I would estimate the proportion of women workers as 30 per

cent of the total. Representatives of employers • associ a-

tions and trade unions believe that around 2,000 units in

Central Calcutta today are engaged in binding and allied

activities like making envelopes, cartons, exercise books

and packaging and labelling. About 400 of them are involved

only in book-binding, and the total number of workers in

these units comes to about 6,000. In the l?.§!!.ELE.£.§

284

and its adjoining areas nearly 4, 000 workers work in about

300 binderies. During the busy season fran November to

March when the demand for binding school text-books, and

diaries goes up, the total number of workers employed rises

to about 8,000. Even during June-July, in the beginning

of college and university sessions, the demand far binding

books picks up, but not to the same extent as in the main

season. In recent years, with an increase in the volume

of book publishing, book-binding has becane a perennial

industry. Still during the busy season the pressure of

binding work increases and the number of workers employed

goes up.

The book-binding industry of Calcutta has now grown

beyond the confines of ~ft~U-2!.3 and i ts adj oi ni ng are as.

Today, the binding work is also done in other places like

Goabagan, Sobhabazar, China-bazar, Talligunge, Barr ackpore,

Kalighat and Jadabpur in Calcutta as well as in 24 Parganas.

Nevertheless, .Q.§fts.EL~2 attracts a major proportion of

binding <X'ders because of its strategic location and nearly

75 per cent of the binderies of Calcutta are concentrated

here.

~truct~~_s>f the ~k-Binding I!;ld~~~:

Book-binders, being the last link in the chain of book

production, are dependent on the publishers. They merely

perform 'job work• at rates fixe} by the publishers. In

283

most cases, publishers select book-binders and ask the

printing press to supply the latter with printed materials.

Printing presses also, in few cases, receive both printing

and binding orders from the publishers. They later select

their own binders. In both the cases, the contract is

informal. NJ a result, book-binders are dependent on the

publishers (and printers in few cases) in a variety of ways.

Owners of binding units as well as trade union representa­

tives agree that binding rates have not been upwardly

revised by the publishers to the same extent as the increase

in cost of binding books in the 1 as t few years. Further,

many publishers are known to be bad paymasters, underpaying

the binders and delaying their payments. A few publishers

openly state that they reduce expenses on binding by sacri­

ficing quality so as to keep the price of books as low as

possible.. Any attempt on the part of the binders to demand

higher binding rates often results in the cancellation of

orders. Although binders transport printed materials at

their own expense, they are seldom asked to bind all the

printed mater! als at one go. Orders for binding are received

intermittently depending on the market. The binders store

the printed materials till the ·stock gets cleared, which

may take two or three years. Yet they are not fully com­

pens a ted fcc the risks involved and for the s tee aqe expenses.

If they refuse to bear these expenses they may lose payment

for fulfilled or1ers an1 may even risk getting their crders

cancelled. Binding rates do not vary with the size of the

order as their rates are quoted per 1, 000 books. The rates

vary between hard-bound and paper-bound volumes. Therefore,

the publishers place orders for books to be bound depending

on the sales performance of the concerned books.

Thus, the book-binding indus try is wholly dependent

on the publishing industry. The growth and development of

the latter determine the former's future. This dependence

has put Calcutta binders in consider able trouble in the

past. AS such the book-binding trade is concentrated mainly

in the small scale sector. Only fi £teen out of 400 binde­

ries in Daftari .f.iirJ and its adjoining areas are considered

'big binderies• (employing 20 or more workers). Even these

'big binders' cannot afford to antagonise publishers.

Although, they have a reputation of pro:iucing good quality

of binding, publishers often bypass them and place orders

with many small binders and contractors at lower rates.

The Bangiya Pusthak Gr anthan Byabos ayee Sami ti (Book

Binding Traders• ASsociation), formed in 1957 by the big

binders could do little to organise a strong association

to deal w1 th the publishers. Calcutta book-binders are

now particularly worried about a few contractors and sub­

contractors who are not members of their Sami ti. These

contractors are mainly representatives of printing houses

who occasionally take up binding wor~. A few of the

287

senior skilled workers have also joined the fray by taking

up sub-contracting jobs on a small scale. Today, the

established binders find themselves severely undercut

by a host of contractors and small binders who have entered

the industry recently. AS a result, the big binding houses

like Pravabati Binding House, Jagrata Binding Works, New

Bengal Book-Binding, Srinath Book-Binding Works, Basanti

Binding Works, East End Traders, Orient Book-Binding, and

Calcutta Book-Binding have been forced to cut down their

work farce and reduce capac! ty utilisation. One of the

largest binderies in Calcutta started 45 years ago, i.e.

the New Bengal Book-Binders, today employs only 25 workers

as against 100 till mid-1970s. The growth of competition

in the binding trade has been a positive development for

the publishers who can easily turn down the demands of the

Bangiya Pusthak Granthan Byabosayee Samiti (henceforth

Byabosayee Samiti) to raise the share of binders.

The number of contractors in the binding trade has

increased particularly after the state government took

over the responsibility of publishing all the school text­

books at the primary level and a few at the secondary level.

Earlier a gOO:! number of publishers used to do this job

throughout the year with th:! help of several printers

and binders. After the government's takeover, government

presses are assigned some printing jobs and the remaining

are distributed by calling for tenders fran private printers.

288

The printers are also required to undertake book-binding.

Since printing and binding of a large number of school

books have to be done within a stipulated pericxi, the work

is taken up only by those who have sufficiently large

amount of capital. This practice has encouraged monO.:·

polistic tendencies among the printers. Even a few news­

paper printers in Calcutta have now joined the fray. The

1 arge printing houses are entrusting the binding jobs to

contractors. Though the established binders are not always

denied work, they no longer can depend on printers for such

work, as they used to depend on publishers earlier. The

Calcutta book-binders have time and again demanded that

the state government should separate binding and printing

jobs and should directly distribute binding jobs among the

established binders. Since separation of binding orders

frQn printing orders complicates the procedures involved,

the government has resisted such pressures.

In response to the intensification of competition

among the binders and the escalation of labour charges·

due to the successful struggles launched by the Calcutta

Book Binding Workers' Union, sane of the big binders tried

to introduce modern technology in binding. However, given

the 1 abour intensive character of the trade as well as

uncertainties of bindi~g trade, the new technology has not

proved effect! ve. The orders for binding boolcs, as has

been mentioned earlier, are unpredi.ctable and uncertain.

The mechanised binding operation is not econorni cal far

binding a handful of books. There are also some technical

problems associ a ted with the mechanised binding process.

Thus, for instance, a folding machine cannot adapt i t!!E!lf

to irregular! ties in printing. Binders have to take specl al

care to fOld papers accurately which is done better manu~lly.

Modern cutting machines also have similar problems. As a

result, even those big binders who had installed some modern

machines now find 1 t difficult to utilise them fully. The

fear of keeping machines idle has slowed down mechanisation.

Binders have instead started setting up binderies in those

areas (areas mentioned earlier) where wage rates and rent

are much less. Thus, for instance, the owner of the Calcutta

Book Binding has recently set up a bindery in Barr ackpore.

He receives binding orders in the name of his old unit, but

gets at least half of the work done in his new unit. This

binder says that even after paying the transport charges

for carrying binding material to Barrackpore, he earns a

decent profit. The owner of the G ita Binding Concern has

gone to the extent of closing down his bindery in Daftari

E~.S and establishing a new one in Jadabpur. This is,

however, an extreme example and Calcutta binders in general

have shown less interest to shut their business in Daf~i

Par a because of its st.r ategic location. -

2BO

In their anxiety to cut cost, especially wages, book­

binders in Qgftaf.!_fara have been evolving several strata­

gems. One such stratagem is the maintenance of two sets

of books to show that less than twenty workers are employed.

If a works hop can be kept outside the pur view of the

Factories Act by such methOd, the employer of that work-

s hop is not obliged to provide statutory benefi. ts to his

workers. Employers can follow such method very easily

by refusing to issue appointment letters and to maintain

attendance registers for the workers.· FUrther, sub-units

or 'disguised units• with different signboards are maintained

to keep an establishment outside the purview of the Facto­

ries Act. For instance, the Bengal Binders and the New

Bengal Book Binding are officially two binding units employ­

ing 16 and 25 workers respectively. But in reality, both

the binders are owned by the same family, and operate in

the same premises. The employer of the New Bengal Book

Binding few years back had officially entrusted his son the

responsibility of a part of the factory. Sirnil arly, the

owner of Deluxe Book Binding recently has registered a part

of his factory in his wife • s ncrne. AS a result, the two

units, together employing 31 workers are kept out of the

purview of the Factories Act. Adoption of such practices

helps explain why only 7 out of 4 2 binderies surveyed by

me came under the purview of the Factories Act although

the number would have been more than double. Another

291

widespread practice is to deny workers a·permanent status

and declare them as temporary or casual workers. More

then 30 J>4!!r cent of those employed in DaftaE_i Pa:£.i! are

temporary. The number of temporary workers ernpl oyed

increases during the peak business season. These are

seasonal migrants who mainly come from the rural hinter-

land of Calcutta and go back to their villages during the

harvest season. They generally prefer any temporary work.

Employers, therefore, favour these workers. It appears

that the big binders who were forced to cut down employ-

ment and capacity utilisation in the past have also-evolved

counter strategies to minimise cost of labour.

Temporary workers are generally employed on daily

wage and piece rate basis. The employers in Daftari Pa£li

as it appears. from the following Table based on my study

sample, have been forced by the Calcutta Book Binding

workers • Union to grant permanent work status to 68 per

cent of the bindery workers.

Table 5.3: ~~~.,!9n of binder! workers on the basis of their~~k stat~ng mode of pa~!l!

Mode of 'PaYm!nt- _ Daily Piece Monthly

WOrk Status

------~§9e R~~---~W~ag~e~-----------

Permanent 7 24 37 68

Ternpor ary 10 22 - 32 -------------------------------------------------------Total 17 46 37 100

-------------------------------------------------

2~)2

The permanent work status of these workers, however, does

not entitle them to benefits sirnil ar to those permanent

workers who receive a monthly wage. They are paid only

on the basis of number of days worked oc on the basis of

quantity of work done (whichever is applicable). Canpared

to the temporary daily Wa:Je and piece rate workers, they

enjoy bonus, gratuity and a few days of paid leave every

year. However, those daily wage and piece rate permanent

workers who work in binderies registered under the Factories

Act enjoy Provident Fund, Employees State Insurance, and

leave facilities. These daily w~ge or piece rate workers

are categorised as 'permanent workers• because employers

cannot dismiss them even when there is no work for them,

and their service for that period is counted while calculat-

ing bonus, leave, gratuity or other claims. These •perma-

nent' workers, ho·...;ever, have to cOme everyday to work. even

when tooy know there will not be sufficient work or even no

work for them. Temper ary daily wage or piece rate workers

are recruited for specific number of days to accomplish

a particular work. Also,. if a permanent daily wage or

piece rate worker does not turn up for work for a particular

period, casual workers are recruited for that period only.

It, theref~e, follows that employing workers on daily

wage or piece rate basis is more advantageous to the employers

rather than employing workers on monthly wage basis. Monthly

wage workers are considered to be casual about their work 0

2~)J

and they have to b~ pai ::i on Sundays and even when there

is no work. A temper ary worker, whether on daily wage or

piece rate basis, can be terminated as and when the employer

wants. Also monthly wage workers easily become permanent

after one year of service and claim yearly increment, more

leave facilities and higher gratuity claims as compared to

the daily wage and piece rate workers {a detailed discussion

on the benefits obtai ned by different categories of workers

is presented in the third section of this chapter). AS a

result, employers now-a-days hardly appoint any worker paid

on monthly basis. Considering that book-binding depends on

the volume of job works received, it is uneconomical to hire

workers on a monthly basis because there may not be enough

work ttroughout the month.

In an effort to increase the number of temporary and

piece rate workers, Calcutta binders have been employing

a large number of ...,omen and children in recent years. Even

fifteen years ago, there were very few women workers in the

trade. This is. another manifestation of falling prof! t

margins and growth of competition. AS has been mentioned

earlier, nearly thirty per cent of the workers engaged in

book-binding work now are women; and a majority of them

are temporary piece rate wcrkers. Temporary workers in

general, and women workers in particular, refrain from

becaning members of trade unions. The idea of permanent

2!}4

workers as 'trouble makers' or union members also encourages

employers to favour temporary and women workers. Children

are employed as •apprentices" and are~ therefore, paid nomi­

nal wages till the employers consider them fit for some un­

skilled jobs. The narrow lanes and bylanes that criss~.cross

on ~.!..!a;:i Para present a familiar sight~ groups of children

aged between eight to ten, carrying heavy bundles of paper

on their heads. It is claimed that close to 1, 500 children

below 16 years of age, are employed •illegally" in these

binderies. 12

The employer-employee relationship in the book-binding

industry is a dependent and a personal relationship. Piece­

rate workers~ whether permanent or temporary, rely entirely

on their employers for work. Temporary and casual workers

including apprentices cannot also depend on their employers

for job security. The system of recruitment provides

ample opportunities to the employers to control the workers.

Since informal channels predominate in labour recrui trnent,

employers can appoint 'loyal • and ''known • workers. The

importance of informal channels in the recruitment of

workers can be understood from the fact that only ten per

cent of our respondents have secured jobs directly fran an

unknown employer. In most of the cases either a blood

relation or a distant relative (28 per cent), or a 'known'

worker (34 per cent) or a neighbour (20 per cent) who was

known to the employer has procured the job. for the workers.

Employers themselves have also directly recruited some

(8 per cent) 'known• workers. From the point of view of

labour control and 'discipline• the informal system of

r e~ui tment is helpful to the employers. Moreover. in . those book-binding units where the majority of the employers

work along with their employers, intimate face to face

relationship dominate. Hence, 80 per cent of the bindery

workers I interviewed found their employers cooper a t1 ve

in financial terms. And only 6 per cent of them have

identi fled their relations hip with employers as 'bad!.

Thus,while the publishers and printers have tried to

cut costs by passing them on to the boOk-binders, the

binders in turn reduce their costs by cutting down on the

workers• entitlement to statutory benefits. Therefore.

the book-binding indus try is subordinated to the interests

of printing and publishing industry. It is not possible

to understand the problem ··of either the binders or their

employees 'N.i thout taking note of this fact.

II. SOCIO-E<X>NOMIC BA.a<GROUND OF WORKERS IN THE BOOK-BINDING INDUS'IRY IN CALCUTTA:

~leL~male war~_:!:

The book-binding industry. as has been mentioned

earlier, employs both male and female workers. The number

of female workers. however, is only a small proportion of

2Bti

the work force in the binderies. More than 70 per cent of

my respondents are male. Representatives of the employers'

association and trade unions also estimate that nearly 30

per cent of the bindery workers are female. While male

workers are employed for , all kinds of binding jobs, female

workers are mainly recruited for some unskilled jobs like

folding printed forms and stitching them on piece rate

basis •

.§ZUL.!!§-~9!: ou9sL£i _ _!ema1e w ark~ :

Female workers in the book-binding industry mainly

hail from the rural hinterland of Calcutta, and they conmute

over long distance to cane to the place of work. Among

these workers, the majority are from 24 Parganas. Interes­

tingly, sane of these workers are deserted wcmen and widows

who have to find their own means of making a living as heads

of their households. There are also unmacried young girls

and married women who work in order to supplement family

income. In some cases the husband and the w1 fe or mother

and daughter work together in the same bindery. Since

folding and stitching printe:i papers do not require much

training, female workE~-IS prefer this trade to working as

domestic servants, which is regarded as a l~er status job.

MJe _f~po~.!.!;!.Q!Li>D.9r ker s :

Though the binding work does not involve heavy work,

aged workers constitute only a small percentage of workers

2 (lt""1 ·-' '

employed. Thus, only 11 per cent of the workers interviewed

(see 'Table 5. 3 for details) are above 50 years of age

while 75 per cent are below the age of 40. The percentage

of young workers in the industry would be much higher since

workers below the age of 15 have not been inter viewed.

----- -----N;Je Group F

------ -- ------- ~---

15 - 20 10

21 - 25 9

26 - 30 17

31 - 35 17

36 - 40 22

41 - 45 7

46 - 50 7

51 - 55 5

56 - 60 3

61 - 65 2

66 - 70 1

---------------------------------------------------Total 100

---------------------- -----------------------~~.9nd Canmuni,!y:

AJJ has been mentioned earlier, workers belonging to

Hindu comnuni ty coming across the border have ou to umbered

the Muslim workers after Independence. Today nearly 75 per

cent of the workers in the industry are Hindus while the

remaining are mainly Muslims. Only one worker interviewed

298

in the industry is found to be a Buddhist. Among the

Hindus, Kayasthas constitute 54 per cent, followed by

Scheduled Caste (11 per cent) and Brahmins (6 per cent).

Two workers are ignorant about their caste background.

Thus most of the Hindu workers belong to the middle level

castes. There is a sprinkling of low level castes.

!dUC~,2E:

Nearly 30 per cent of the workers in Calcutta's book­

binding industry, as shown in Table s.s, are illiterate.

Table 5.5: Sex-wise distribution of bindery workers on the basis of tneir1eve_I:of educaJJ~

'LeVel of sex- Total ,!g_gcation Mal!_ '1%}- Feiil.s} e ]]{.J --Illiterate 15 (20.84) 14 (50.00) 29

Class I-IV 16 ( 22. 22) 3 (10.71) 19

Class V-VIII 33 (45.83) 7 (25. 00) 40

Class IX-X 7 (09. 7 2) 3 (10. 71) 10

Class XI-XII 1 (01. 39) 1 (03.58) 2

-------------------------------------------------------Total 72 (100.00) 20 (100.00) 100 --- ---·· - ------------The rate of illiteracy is more among the female workers

(SO%). Though no one among the interviewed workers has

studied beyond class XII, 12 per cent have been educated

upto secondary (Class IX-X) and higher secondary (Class

XI-XII) standard. Table 5.5 also shows that 59 per cent

of the workers have been educated up to the primary level

of education (both lower and upper primary<: Class I-VIII).

Workers interviewed have mainly identified low economic ·~

status and the resultant economic crisis in the family

as the major reason far their illiteracy and lower level

of education.

Mother ...!,9.ngu_!:

Since the book-binding indus try employs a 1 arge number

of local as well as immigrant Bengali ~·arkers, 93 per cent

of the interviewed workers have identified Bengali as

their mother tongue. Hindi and Urdu have been identified

as mother tongue by 5 and 2 per cent of the workers respec-

ti vely.

~.9-!E~:

The book-binding industry in Calcutta has attracted

very few workers from outside Bengal. Thus, only five of

our respondents are from Bihar and one is from Uttar Fradesh.

Among those who hail from West Bengal, a majority have come

from the rural hinterland of Calcutta. Table 5.6 shows

that, while 26 per cent of the interviewed workers perma-

nently reside in Calcutta. 4€ per cent are fran 24 Parganas

and another 20 per cent are from Howr ah, Hoog 1 y, N adi a,

and Murshidabad districts of west Bengal. A majority of

the workers are from 24 pargaaas which is close enough to

Calcutta to commute daily. Workers belonging to other

districts of west Bengal mostly stay at Calcutta in

300

Table 5.6: Distribution of binder~ workers on the basis of their-~rmanent ~d present prace of residence --

Place of Permanent Present Residence --Calcutta 26 57

24 Parganas 48 41

Howrah 7 1

HOogly 6

Nadia 3 1

Murshidabad 3

Bardwan 1

Bihar 5

uttar Pradesh 1 -------------------------------------------------------Total 100 100

-----------------------------------------------rented houses and travel home once a week or once a month.

Table 5.6 makes it clear that the present place of residence

of 57 per cent of the workers is Calcutta while only half

of them stay permanently at that place. In other woras,

31 per cent of the workers hailing from different districts

of west Bengal and those from outside the state maintain

doublf! residence.

M iqr aj:£.2!):

Discussions of migration in India have traditionally

been dominated by the relative importance of 'push' and

• pull • factors in inducing migration. 13 The important role

of 'push' factor is, however, self-evident in a country

where widespread unemployment and under-employment are

301

common. An analysis of the reasons for migration of

bindery workers reinforces this hypothesis. Out of 29

workers who left their homes, 24 (82. 76%) did so because

they could not eke out a livelihood in their native

vi 11 age or town. They, therefore, came to Calcutta in

the hope of finding a job. Among the remaining migrant

labourers, two came to Calcutta for further studies and

two migrated along with their families. Very few of the

migrants have come on their own. Over 93 per cent of them

migrated with the help of primary or secondary kin, or

through the help of villagers and acquaintances. While

father, mother, brother and other relatives have helped

in 74 per cent of the cases, villagers or acquaintances

have helped in remaining cases. Interestingly onily one

of the migrated workers· has brought his family to Calcutta.

The rest either stay alone or reside with relatives and

friends at Calcutta leaving their families at home.

§~ngs and Deb~:

Like other industrial workers, majority of the bindery

workers are indebted. Only a handful of them can save sane

money. The following Table makes it clear that while 85 per

cent of the interviewed workers are indebted, only 5 per

cent of them have saved between ~.200 to ~.1,000. some

of the workers neither have any savings, nee have they taken

any loan since whatever they earn is just not sufficient

302

for their expense:s on food, cloth and shelter. No one

lends them any money because they cannot refund it. None

of the interviewed workers has given any loan to any one.

Among those who are indebted, 31 per cent incurred debts

Table 5. 7: _Qistribu_!.ion of binder~kers on th~ basis_9L..,!Elli savings and debt

------·--------·--------------------------Yes/No Savings Debt

-------------------------------------·-------Yes 5 85

No 95 15 ---------------------------------------------------Total 100 100

-------------------------------------------------------due to deficiency in earnings, 21 pP..r cent took loans for

meeting expenses at marriages of family members, mostly

daughters, and 15 per CE>nt to meet expenses during illness.

Some workers (12 per cent) have also taken loans during

the off season when their earnings were low. It appears

that the general poverty of bindery workers is the major

reason for their indebtedness. Not having a financial

c0hion, t~y are forced to borrow at times of heavy .

expend! ture when some one in the family falls ill or has

to be married. They borrow mainly from co-villagers

(47.06%), employers {20%) and relatives (14.12%). Sane

workers {8%) have taken loans from Mahaj ans who charge

8 to 10 per cent interest per month.

303

~nd~_g~J!!£>:

Although over 70 per cent of the workers interviewed

in the book-binding industry possess land, the size of the

land they hold is small. Thus~ among the land holders

73 per cent possess land below one bigha (1,600 sq. yct:_ds)

and another 15 per cent hold land between one to bolO bighas.

Moreover, nearly half of the land holders share land with

other members of the family. Hence very few of them depend

solely on land as a source of income. AS such 70 per cent

of the land holders do not earn any thing from land, and

among the res t 1 18 per cent earn below Rs. 2, 000 per year

from land. Therefore, nearly 30 per cent of the land holders

are marginal farmers.

III. BENEFITS OBTAINED BY WCRKERS AND CONDITIONS OF WORK:

It has been stated earlier that over the past two

decades keen competition among uhe Calcutta binders and

the success of the Calcutta Book Binding Workers• Union

in bargaining for higher wages as well as some other faci­

lities for the workers resulted in several institutional

devices and illegal practices followed by the binders. All

these devices and practices ultimately lecd to a situation

where some workers are denied various wage and non-wage

benefits. Thus, the wcrkers in a benami or disguised

bindery cannot claim statut~y benefits even if that unit

301

actually employs more than 19 workers and comes under the

purview of the Factories Act. On the other hand, workers

employed outside J2.ilftari_f.¥'J are paid less wage and are

not provided any benefit because the union's strength is

limited only to binderies in ~.£!~ Para and its adjoining

areas. Even w1 thin the ~.§!!_E~.§, employment of temporary,

casual, piece rate and child workers help employers in

skirting the provisions of labour laws. Here a detailed

enquiry into various wage and non-wage benefits available

to workers in Daft.§!i__f¥J and its adjoining areas is done

to assess the impact of trade unionism in these areas.

Due to the success of trade unionism, workers in the

binderies in .Q2..ti..§!'!_f,.Sll'J and its adjoining areas today

have a fixed wage rate. The Government of west Bengal has

not yet issues notification enforcing minimum wages for

bindery workers. Hence, the Calcutta Book Binding Workers •

Union had to force the employers in 1980 to accept three

wage rate systems for monthly wage, daily wage and piece

rate workers. Subsequently, these rates \\'ere enhanced

in 1984, 1985 and 1986. AS per the agreement reached

between the union and the Bangiya Pusthak Granthan Byabosayee

Samiti in 1986, monthly wage, daily wage and piece rate

workers would be provided following wage rates: In a

bindery employing less than 25 workers, the monthly salary

305

of an unskilled worker is Rs. t95/- for a 'boy • and qs. 245/­

for a • helper •. Generally children are employed in the

'boy' category of wor'k. A semi-skilled worker, usually ·

termed as 'nim-karigar' receives Rs. 295/- per month and a

skilled worker or 'karigar• is paid Rs. 345/- per month.

The supervisor or 'J.3madar', who is generally a high slcilled

worker, is paid Rs.25/- extra in addition to his wage (Rs.345/-)

per month. The wage rate of all categories of workers in

binderies employing 20 or more workers is Rs.lO/- more than

the above rate. Monthly wage workers are also entitled to

the benefits of yearly 'increment. The rate of yearly incre­

men t for unskilled, semi-slcilled an:i slcilled workers is

~s. 15/-, Rs. 10/- and Rs. 7/- respect! vely.

As opposed to the monthly wage workers, daily wage cr

piece rate workers do not enjoy the benefit of annual incre­

ment though some of these workers are permanent. These

workers, hc:Mever, are not paid less as compared to the

monthly wage workers. Thus, the daily wage rate of an

unskilled worker is Rs. 13/- (Rs. 13x26 days=Rs. 338/- per month).

For those who are semi-skilled and skilled, the daily wa;Je

rate is Rs. 14/- and Rs. t5/- respect! vely. It is important

to note here that daily wage rates do not di £fer between

permanent and temporary workers.

For the piece rate workers, the number of pages to

be folded or stitched determines the rate. Far folding

30G

1, 000 sheets each containing 16 printed pages, Rs. 3/- is

pai::l, while far folding equal number of sheets each contain­

ing 8 pages, the rate is Rs. 2/-. Workers are also paid

higher rate CRs. 4/-) far folding bigger sized paper (Double

Demai, Double crown and the like). A worker after eight

hour•s duty can fold between 3,000 to 5,000 sheets depend­

ing on his or her skill. Stitching rates are also fixed

on t~e basis of number and size of printed forms as well

as quality of stitching. Generally the rate varies between

60 to 70 paise for stitching 1,000 sheets each containing

t6 printed pages. On an average a piece rate worker earns

between Rs.l2/- to Rs. 15/- a day after eight hours work.

Significantly, temporary piece rate workers receive higher

rates for both stitching and folding operations as canpared

to the permanent workers. Thus, a temporary piece rate

worker gets 10 paise more for stitching 1,000 sheets each

containing 16 pages. He is also paid a higher amount far

the folding work. This discrepancy in rates is to compensate

for the temporary workers' lack of access to ESI, Provident

Fund, leave, bonus and graltility benefits. While the

employers • as soc! ation under pres sure of the union has

agreed to pay higher rates to temporary piece rate workers,

daily wage temporary workers are not given higher wages.

They, therefore, are the worst hit. Sane of them, however,

receive bonus and enjoy 12 days leave a year. One would

still argue that the Calcutta Book Binding Workers' Union

has not allowed the binders to pay less wag\s to temporary

307

workers as compared to the permanent workers.

Further, women workers are paid equal to their male

counterpart. NJ has been mentioned earlier, folding and

stitching rates for women workers like their male counter­

part are decided on the basis of total number of these

pages folded or stitched. Nevertheless,piece rated women

workers generally earn less than male workers since they

cannot work, in the evenings and have to return home early.

Thus, the following Table s haws that out of 46 piece rate

workers interviewed, 27 (58. 70%) are women and not a single

of them earn above Rs.400/- a month while 58 per cent of

the male piece rated workers earn so. Again, only two

(10.53%) male piece rated workers earn below~. 300/- a

month while 11 (40. 74%) female workers earn so.

Table 5.8: Sex-wis~-~~ibution of piece rated bin~ workers_..2D the bas,!!..,.9f their monthly income from wag!.§

sex Monthly lpcom~::<Bit2-tf.:an w59es) =- Total ------=2~0-0,- 300___J00-400 400-500 500-600 600-700

Male 2 6 6 4 1 19 (10.53) (31.58) (31.58) (21.05) {05.26) (100.0)

~m~e 11 ~ ~ (40. 74) (59. 26) (tOO. 0)

-----------------------------~--------------------------Total 13 22 6 4 1 46

30d

Table 5. 9: Distrib_illon of bindery workers on th~ b~~.!.! Of their work status_.2nd monthl.v_,!ncome f£.9!1 wages

w"OrTstatus-~E!llhli Irlcane Ji:)-t!9m- wii'les -- Total· 200- 300 300-4 oo 4 oo-5 oo 5 o"'0-6oo 6 o 1-7 oo - ------ -- -------------

Permanent

Temporary

9 (13. 24)

43 11 (63.23) (16.18)

10 14 6 (31. 95) (4 3. 75) (18. 75)

4 (5.88)

2 {6. 25)

1 68 (1.47) (100.0)

32 {100.0)

---------------------------------------The difference between the permanent and temper ary

workers as regards to their monthly incane is, however,

negligible. The above 'f.able (5. 9) s haws monthly income

from wages of 100 bindery workers. The Table also shows

that majority of the bindery workers earn below Rs.400/-

per month fran wages. The difference between the monthly

earnings of permanent and temporary workers which appears

from the above Table is in reality marginal. Most of those

who earn below Rs. 300/-. are actually new recruits and are.

there fore, unsldlled workers who cannot work fast. And it

is obvious that the number of unskilled workers is more

among the temporary workers. Hence, nearly 32 per cent

of the tempcrary workers earn between Rs. 200 to lls. 300/- a

month fr em wages.

Other than wages, bindery workers also earn from over-

time work for which higher rates are provided. During the

peak business season when the demand for binding books

30B

picks up, each and every bindery remains open till mid­

night. Workers generally earn some extra money by putting

in overtime work at that time. In some big binderies, where

the work pressure continues throughout the year, workers

are always asked to work overtime. It is, however, a

di ffi cult job to ascertain how much a worker earns from

overtime work per month. Most of the interviewed workers

could not provide any definite figure to' this end. Never­

theless, 32 per cent of them have said that they generally

earn bet..._.een Rs. 300 to Rs.SOO/- a year, while another 22 per

cent earn between Rs.800 to ~.1,000/- annually 'from overtime

work. sane of the workers {18%), employed mainly in big

binderies, work over time throughout the year and thereby

earning between Rs.1,200 to Rs.l,SOO/- annually.

M far as non-wage benefits are concerned. Provident

Fund and ESI are provided only to permanent workers of binde­

ries registered under the Factories Act. Thus, 16 permanent

workers of 7 binderies in Daftari P~, as shown in Table

5.10, receive both ESI and Provident Fund facilities because

those binderies are registered under the Factories Act.

workers of other binderies, even having permanent week status,

are deprived of this facility since the law does not permit

such facilities to be provided to workers of non- factor! es.

Among other non-wage benefits, gratuity is available

to a majority of the permanent workers irrespective of

310

Table 5 • 10: Dis tr ib u tio.!L2£ binder}!' wor,-=k~e_r~s_....w-.h'-'io~.sr.:;;r .... e entitled to ESI, Provident Pun.:l and ~~.tY facilities fran their res~tive employer!

Benefits Yes; ~ily wcqe_ ~onthiy WfNe _Eiece Rate Total No Perma- Tempo- Perma- Tempo- Perm a- Tempo-

nent rary_ nen_!:. rEv ne_D,S rary

E.S.I. Yes 1 10 5 16

No 6 10 27 19 22 84

Total 7 10 37 - 24 22 100 ---------------------------------------------------------------Provi­dent Fund

Yes 1 10 5 16

No 6 10 27 19 22 84

Total 7 10 37 24 22 100 ---------------------------------------------------------------Gratuity Yes 5 29 11 45

No • 2 10 8 13 22 55

Total 7 10 37 24 22 100 -- --- --------- --whether they work in a factory or not. Table 5. 10 shows

that 45 per cent of the interviewed workers, all of whom

are permanent, are entitled to gratuity benefit. The Table

also makes it clear that only permanent status of work does

not entitle a worker to enjoy gratuity benefit, though the

employers are supposed to provide this benefit to all

permanent workers. According to the agreement signed

between the union and employers • association in 1980,

permanent workers of all establis tntents employing ten oc

more workers should get gratuity at the rate of 15 days

salary a year. Even those who do not cane under the rules

regarding gratuity but have worked for five or more years

till December 1980 should also be given g:ratuity at the

rate of 10 daY's salary a year. It, appears that those

who could put pressure on their employers,. are able to get

the agreement implemented. This is true about other bene­

fits which the employers have formally agreed to provide.

For instance, though the employers have agreed in 1980 to

issue appointment letters to each and every worker within

15 days of his appointment, only 47 per cent of the inter~

viewed workers, all of whan are permanent, have so far

received it. Similarly, only 25 binderies in Daft~i Par~

maintain attendance registers for their permanent workers.

This means that arriving at an agreement does not necessarily

guarantee its implementation. Those who have not received

appointment letters or do not sign in attendance register

can find it difficult to lay claim to <;Tatuity. Temporary

workers are not given appointment letters or are not asked

to sign in the attendance register because these practices

strengthen their claim for the permanent work status.

Among the remaining non-wage benefits, leave and bonus

facilities are provided to nearly 70 per cent of the workers,

mostly permanent. Table 5.11 shows that very few of the

temporary workers receive such benefits. The 1980 agree-

ment, which still determines the rules regarding leave, has not

made any provision for the temporary workers enjoying any

leave facility. Accoriing to that agreement, monthly w&ge

permanent workers in workshops with less than 20 workers would

enjoy 25 d'cW's leave a year whereas piece rate and daily

Yearly Nil 7 3 20 30 Leave

12 days 3 3 13 2 21 Days 15-22 days 2 6 3 11 25 days 1 23 24

30 days 1 6 5 12

35 days 2 2

Total 7 10 37 24 22 100 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Bonus Nil 6 22 28

Rs. 100- 300 1 4 5 6 16

Rs.301-500 6 24 12 42

Rs. 501-7 00 6 6 12

Rs. 701-900 2 2

Total 7 10 37 . 24 22 100

--~-~~~-----~-----------~--~----------------------~~---- -·---~----------~

wage permanent workers of such workshops would be sanctioned

only 12 day's leave a year. All the permanent workers (daily

wage, piece rate and monthly) of • factories • (employing 20

or more workers), however, would be sanctioned 30 day.•s

leave a year. It appears from Table 5.11 that majori~ of

the permanent workers in Daf~,ii!"_!_E2-£Sl get leave as per the

1980 agreement. Three piece rate permanent workers are

denied 12 day's leave a year. while six monthly wage perma­

nent workers are sanctioned less than the stipulated number

of leave days a year (15-22 days). Interestingly, the Table

shows that few temporary workers also get 12 day's leave a

year and some of the permanent workers are sanctioned leave

more than the provisions of the 1980 agreement. It should

be mentioned here that apart from 25 or 30 day's yearly

leave, a monthly paid permanent workers is also entitled

to enjoy Sunday as a paid holiday.

Bonus facility available to more than 70 per cent of

the workers is shared by all the permanent workers and a

few daily paid temporary workers. Bonus is paid before

the Durga Puj a festival. Table 5. 11 shows that piece rate

temporary workers do not receive any bonus. The amount of

bonus paid to workers vary from unit to unit. The lO"west

amount of bonus reported is Rs. 100. Table 5. 11 reveals that

among those who receive bonus, 58 per cent get between

Rs. 301 to Ds. 500, and another 22 per cent get less than that.

Only few workers, employed mainly in biq binderies, are paid

bonus above Rs. 500.

The above analysis makes it clear that by employing

temporary workers employers cannot only avoid paying bonus

and gratuity_ but avoid Provident Fund, ESI, increment,· and

leave facilities. Appointment letters are is sued only to

permanent workers, and they are asked to sign in the atten-

dance registers. It goes to the credit of the Calcutta

Book Binding Workers • Union to have procured the above

mentioned facilities for some of the permanent workers.

The union also could make at least forty to fifty per cent

of the daily wage and piece rate workers permanent. FUrther,

the union could bargain for higher wages for all categories

of workers includ lng those who are temporary. These chan;7es,

however, have limited impact over the workers employed

outside Daft~i P~.ii· Also the success of the union in

achieving some demands of the workers in ..Qs.!_1:ari Pa!:2 and

adjoining areas has led to several other tendencies like

decentralization of the industry and employment of more and

more temporary workers.

While issues rel ate:l to wage and non-wa;Je benefits have

been the major reasons of 1 abour unrest in the book-binding

industry in Calcutta, the question of health and working

conditions has so far been neglected. It is, however,

acknowledged that workers in binderies perform their duties

in the rr.idst of several difficulties. '!'he work is done

in deer epi t, crowded rooms with no proper ven ti 1 a t1 on.

Some of these rooms are damp and dirty also. Drainage

facilities in .Q.s!J~.!_Pa£3 are lacking and the area becomes

water-logged even when there is a small shower. Further,

facili tiPs like proper lighting arrangement and electric

fans are hardly provided in the small and congested binding

rooms. ThotlrJh a 1 arge section of workers in the indus try "?omen,

consists ofLtoilet facilities for them are non-existent.

Bindery workers are also exposed to the risk of contracting

tuberculosis because they handle paper and breathe paper

dust. Three of the interviewed workers suffered from this

disease and others fear that they may also catch the disease

in their old age. Nearly 20 per cent of our respondents

have complained of pain in the chest and postural problems.

Another 30 per cent always feel weak after work. These

problems may have occurred due to hard work done sitting

for long hours in congested and dirty rooms as well as due

to insufficient diet. Because there are not many machines

used, accidents are almost negligible. Very few of the

binderies use modern powe~ machines and the work is done

mostly by hand. The only widely used machin~ which may

be dangerous is the huge cutting machine. Never the less,

very few workE-rs in the industry have so far been affected

by machine accidents, and all of them have received monetary

compensation from their employers due to the pressure

exerted by the union.

The Calcutta Book Binding rto/orkers' Union, which has

gained popularity for its determination to fight for the

demands of the bindery workers, has not paid attention to

improve the health and working conditions. The union, in

its course ot struggle, has demand.ed implementation of

labour laws. But its attention has always been on provident

Fund, Gratuity and leave facilities, rather than on ESI

facility. Moreover, the union's demand list has never

included i~sues regarding working conditions.

One should, however, agree that unionising workers

of small binderies and fighting for their demands, is not

an easy job. The union cannot adopt an uncompromising

attitude towards the binders and thereby put a long list

of demands because these binders are dependent on the

publishers and they merely perform job work. While fight­

ing for the demands of the workers the union has to consider

the problems that binders face. But, at the same time, the

union will have to resist illegal practices followed by

binders. Considering the strains and limitations of the

Calcutta Book Binding Workers' Onion, its success over the

past few decades in achieving several demands of the workers

in Qg.J.!.9,;:i P.9f:a and its adjoining areas is corrrnendable.

The way the union has achieved these success is detailed

in the next chapter.

317

IV. SUMMARY:

The craft of book-binding was initially started in

printing presses. But in the beginning of the present

century, ~1i th the increase in the volume of book production,

separate binderies came up in Daf~~EL~ in Central

Calcutta. Be·fore Independence, Muslims fran the then

East Bengal dominated the trade. After the convnunel riot

of 1946 and the partition of Bengal, the number of Muslim

artisans decreased sharply and Hindu refugees caning over

fran East Pakistan took control of the trade. Today, three­

fourths of the employers and workers of the indus try in

Calcutta are Hindus. The industry now has grown beyond

the confines of Q.2.f..!-..Sif~J and it.s adjoining areas

although these areas attract a major proper tion of binding

orders because of its location. It is estimated that

there are about 400 binderies in Calcutta 300 of which

are located in E2Jj:ari Pa~ alone. The indus try roughly

employs 6,000 workers 30 per cent of whom are women. During

the peak business season, bet...Jeen November to March, the

number of workers employed rises to about 8, OCO. The book­

binCling industry in Calcutta has attracted very few workers

from outside Bengal. Most of the workers hail from the

rural hinterland of Calcutta. An analysis of the socio­

economic background of bindery workers s haws that most of

them are young, they have no or very little education,

have very little 1 and and are mostly indebted.

316

The book-binding industry~which is c6ncentrated

mainly in the small scale sector, is wholly dependent on

the publishing and printing houses. Binders are the last

link in the chain of book prOduction. They merely per form

'job works' at rates fixed by the publishers and in sane

cases by printers. This subordinate position has put

Calcutta binders in considerable trouble. Even a fe\v of

the big binders cannot afford to antagonise publishers

although the binding rates have not been upwardly revised

to the s arne extent as the escalation in the costs of bind­

ing books and raw materials. Under pressure from the

Calcutta Book Binding Workers • Union, the binders had to

increase the wage rates for the daily wage, monthly wage

and piece rate workers several times after 1978. Bindery

workers {both permanent and temporary) in Qafta£1_~~

and its adjoining areas today have a fixed rate of wages

although the government has not yet fixed minimum wages

for them. Employers also have to pay higher rates to

temporary piece-rate workers in order to compensate for

their lack of access to ESI, Provident Fund, leave, bonus

and Gratuity benefits. These benefits are available to a·

majority of the permanent workers in Daft_2ri Par~ and its

adjoining areas where the union is powerful. Quite naturally,

the Calcutta binders have demanded upward revision of

binding rates. The publishers, however, inspite of their

conrnitment to increase the binding rates, have started

31 ~i

encouraging small binders and contractors -to take up jobs

at rates lower than the established one. The increase

in the number of such •new binders• has sharpened compe-

ti tion among Calcutta binders. In response to the intensi-

fication of this cOTTlpeti tion and the union's success in

raising wages, some of the big binders attempted to intrO-

duce modern technology in binding. But given the labour

intensive character of the trade as well as uncertainties

involved in binding trade, the new technology has not proved

successful. Hence, they have now star ted setting up binde-

ries in those areas of Calcutta .and 24 Parganas where the

wages of workers and room rent are much less as compared

to those in .!22.ll.2fL.E~J· Several other stratagems like

keeping the official number of workers employed low, main-

taining disguised units and employing more and more

temporary prefer ably women and children workers on daily

wage and piece rate basis are evolved by binders in Daftari

E.s.rJ to escape the provisions of the Factories Act. These

new developments have made the union's task more challenging.

NOTES:

1.

2.

B.s. Kes av an, ~.5!:L of pr i n~i,!l..9_ and Pu~J:.Y:!!9-2E India- A Stu_gy_of Cultural Re-awakeii'Ing, vol.I Tsouth Indian Origins of printing and its efflores­cence in Bengal), (National Book Trustofindia, 1985), p.181.

See, tor details, G. Shaw, £E..!E~.!E.5L.1P_Ca_lcu~a _g~ .1§00 - A ~cription and C_hes_511St of Printing:Jn Tat! 18th century Calcu.tta (London: Bibliographical society, ~TI:- -----

31-U

3 o B.S. Kes avan, .212• .£!..!. # pp. 266-6 7.

4. Labour Investigation Committee, Report on Labour Conditions in Printing Presses, by Armed Mu'khter (Delhi: Manager of Publicat:IOn, Govt. of India, 1946).

5.

6.

7.

e.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

P. Guha Thakur ta, December 3, 1984,

"Boun::i to Last", ~..§EJ.~m2!}, p. 3.

The term • Daftari • in Bengali generally denotes a peon or record keeper of an office. The binders are called 'Daftaries • probably because the redord-keeper of an office also used to bind those records in the past.

The craft of book-binding requires only a few months training.

P. Guha Thakurta, .EE• ~·

Bureau of Applied Economics and Statistics, The Survev of Small Industrial Units in Urban Areas of ~--~~-------- --------------- -----------~~Bengal- J-_96~971, Government of West Bengal, 197 3.

Bureau of Applied Economics and Statistics, Stati2; tigl Abs tf..?£!:.£._ We~_!:~~g_pL__j.97.§__.§E.9__L977, Govern­ment of West Bengal, 1977.

Census of India, 1981, General Economic Tables, Part III, A & B, series23-,-~st8engal,p:2T5.

P. Guha Thakur ta, .2P· .£.!~·

M.S. A. R ao (ed. ) , Studies in_~igrreti O.!}_;__!Eter,n.,iil__sind _!.n._~nati onaJ_!11g£ ati..QE in_ Ind.~ Del hi: Manoh ar Publi cati ens, 1986.