Rethinking technological choices and knowledge production in the mines and on the factory floor: Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha's experiences in central India

Abstract

This paper seeks to locate in the experiences of the Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha, a workers’ collective in Central India, an alternative model of technological transfer. Responding to the proposal of large-scale mechanisation of the iron ore mines in Central India, the workers along with engineers who collaborated with them, evolved a counter proposal of ‘semi-mechanisation’ and in the process showed that the active involvement of workers can indeed prove a driver for technological change, and that workers need not be silent recipients of a ‘received’ technology unsuitable to them. As the users of technology struggle to transform their workspaces and working conditions, they also drive the ‘development’ of new technological choices and spawn innovation. This paper also takes note of the policy implications of a more interactive technological transfer model, and of the replacement in the industrial space of the culture of competition by a counter culture of cooperative creation between workers.

Keywords:

• labour
• technological choice
• innovation
• mechanisation

JEL classification:

• E26
• O30
• D83
• O55

Acknowledgments

This paper owes a lot to the two anonymous reviewers who provided extremely useful insights to the ideas explored. I am very thankful for their enriching comments and suggestions, which encouraged me to delve more deeply into my arguments on models of technology transfer, and on the policy implications of the Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha's initiatives. My ongoing doctoral research on Shankar Guha Niyogi, his ideas and his campaigns forms the background of much of what has been discussed here. I am therefore grateful to my supervisor Rohan D'Souza who has provided me with fresh ideas, criticism and advice.

Notes

1 Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha, literally meaning the ‘Chhattisgarh Liberation Front’, was founded in 1979 and operated in the Chhattisgarh region of Central India. Though the Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha exists even now, this paper focuses on its experiences between 1979 (when it was set up) and 1991, when its founder Shankar Guha Niyogi was shot dead. Currently, three factions of the CMM exist, led by Janaklal Thakur, Bhimrao Bagde and Sudha Bharadwaj.

2 Chhattisgarh is a state in Central India. Until November 2000, this state was part of the Madhya Pradesh (literally the ‘Central Provinces’) state in India. Chhattisgarh is rich in mineral resources, having abundant supplies of coal, iron ore, limestone and manganese. The steel township of Bhilai, located in the Durg district in the south-western part of Chhattisgarh, was created in the mid-1950s, when the Bhilai Steel Plant was set up. This huge iron and steel manufacturing facility, which to date remains one of the largest of its kind in India, depends on iron ore extracted from the Dalli Rajhara mines located approximately 80 kilometers away from Bhilai in the Balod district of Chhattisgarh. Owned and managed by the Steel Authority of India Limited, the Bhilai Steel Plant as well as the iron ore mines in Dalli Rajhara are public sector undertakings.

3 The Bhilai Steel Plant was set up in 1959. Simultaneously, the Dalli Rahjara mines were opened up. Initially, mining operations in Dalli Rajhara were manual. It was in the mid-1970s that the management of the steel plant mooted the proposal of mechanising the mining operations in Dalli Rajhara.

4 The Bailadila iron ore mines are located in the Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh, in the southern part of the state.

5 Personal communication with Ilina Sen on 5 April 2012 in Raipur.

6 Rajnandgaon is a district in Chhattisgarh, which was carved out of the erstwhile Durg district in 1973. The Bengal Nagpur Cotton (BNC) mills were located in this district – a textile factory established in 1892. At the time when the CMM began organising workers in the BNC mills, the factory was owned and managed by the National Textile Corporation.

7 Urla, Tedesara and Kumhari are industrial pockets adjacent to the Bhilai township in Chhattisgarh – several small industrial units have been established here, which manufacture auxiliary equipment to the Bhilai Steel Plant. Raipur, the capital city of Chhattisgarh, is located around 40 km away from the Bhilai township.

8 Personal translation. Taknik mein manual shakti se jo kaam hota hai, hamaare desh mein wah sabse badhiya kism ka hai. Usme utpaadan laagat bhi kam hai, quality mein bhi aage hai … .phir taknik ki baat tum log kyon karte ho? Tum log bolo ki hum machine ke baat karte hain.

9 Personal translation. Tum maransheel tatvon ko haavi kar rahe ho, tum jeevansheel tatvon ke upar chaaku chala rahe ho, talwar chala rahe ho.

10 Personal communication with Janaklal Thakur on 4 April 2012 in CMM's office in Dalli Rajhara.

11 Blue dust is a generic term commonly used when the iron ore is dominated by very fine, soft hematite. In order to meet the required proportion of iron content in the ore supplied to the steel production process, the ‘blue dust’ has to be fixed with coarser ore known as dry fines.

12 For the CMM, agriculture and agrarian development was not something to be neglected. It conducted detailed deliberations on the nature of land, land-based relations and agriculture in Chhattisgarh and also came up with concrete recommendations, many of which were subsequently implemented. The CMM for instance did a study of the feasibility of growing cotton as an alternative crop in Chhattisgarh. It also came up with a detailed roadmap of land-use and afforestation, and a proposal for constructing an extensive lift irrigation system.