Coal Industry Article in India

7/28/2019 Coal Industry Article in India

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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 post-

independent 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


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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 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 Workmens 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 coal-

producing 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 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


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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. It 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


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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 limits 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, Handling a miners 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

Companys 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


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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 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 comfortable brick hut was constantly clashing

with the workers version of the 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 collieries 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


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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-colonial 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 Workmens 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 post-

independence 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 mobile 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 crches

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 post-

colonial 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


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labour force and ownership of colliery land. As to issues relating to practices of land-

leases and tenancy rights, the work ofDietmar 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 Simeons 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 Basus

(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-Dutts

(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 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 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 together issues

that have been dealt with in discrete, scattered contexts


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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, technology, 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.


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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 Publications, 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).


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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:

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:

Catalogue of the Indian Manufacturers (compiled in the office of the Director-General of Commercial Intelligence), 1911.

Secondary Sources

Alexander, Peter and Halpern, Rick, Introduction: Comparing Race and Labour in

South Africa and the United States inJournal of Southern African Studies, Volume 30,

Number 1, p. 5-18, March 2004.


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Alexander, Peter, Race, Class Loyalty and the Structure of Capitalism: Coal Miners in

Alabama and the Transvaal, 1918-1922 inJournal 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, 1845-

1895. 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 inZamindars, Mines and Peasants: Studies in the History of an


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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. 1895-

1947 in Peripheral Labour? : Studies in the Historyof 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.

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Coal Industry Article in India