UNIT THE CHHATTISHGARH STRUGGLE

Structure

9.0 Aims and Purpose 9.1 Introduction 9.2 The Spread of the Movement 9.3 Women's Role within the Movement 9.3.1 Emergence of Mahila Mukti Morcha (MMM) 9.3.2 Position of Women within the Social Structure 9.3.3 Separate Women's Forum 9.3.4 l'he Achievements 9.4 MMM: The Problems 9.5 Concluding Remarks 9.6 Clarification of the Terms Used 9.7 Sonie Useful Readings

9.0 AIMS AND PURPOSE

This unit deals with Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha and the role of women therein. This unit would help you to:

examine the nature and spread of the Chhattisgarh Movement; explain the role that women played within the movement; and narrate the emergence of Mahila Mukti Morcha.

9.1 INTRODUCTION

This case study examines the role that women have played in the peoples' movement led by the Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha. The movement itself began under the banner of the Chhattisgarh Mines Shramik Sangh (CMSS), a trade union of manual mine workers that became active in the iron ore mines of southern district after the lifting of the internal emergency in 1977. In order to gain an appreciation of the role that women continue to play in the Chhattisgarh movement, it is necessary to examine the historical perspective for, despite new developments, the foundations laid by the parent struggle continue to influence the shape ofthings today. 1n this unit we have described in briefthe broad context in which the movement was initiated and thereafter explain the role played by women in this movement. Has this movement been a vehicle for women's empowerment? Let us first know the spread of this movement.

9.2 THE SPREAD OF THE MOVEMENT

After 1984, and more particularly after 1987, the movement spread rapidly. Newer trade unions came up; the first of these was in the Rajnandgaon based Bengal Nagpur Cotton Mills, one of the oldest industries in the region. The mill was initially owned and operated by the Rajnandgaon Royal family, but changed hands several times before being taken up by the National Textile Corporation. The feudal practice of running the mill and disciplining the workers through 'goondas' continued through all these changes. In 1984, a move was made by the management to introduce a .. . . -...... the majority of the workers being dissatisfied with these goondas, left the central trade Chhattishgarh Struggle union that they were members of until then. They came to the Dalli mine workers for leadership. Since theirs was a textile industry, they joined the "Lal Hara" (red green) trade union as part of the Rajnandgaon Kapda Mazdoor Sangh. The belt along Durg and began to emerge as a major industrial belt from the time more or less that the Steel Plant was set up. However, post 1985, this area was formerly integrated into the Raipur Industrial Development Area (RIDA) with industrial nodes at Jamul (Bhilai), Urla and Siltara (Raipur), Sarkanda (Bilaspur) and Tedesara (Rajnandgaon). This became a major project of the M.P. Industrial Development Corporation or Audyogik Kendra Vikas Nigam (AKVN). Under the package of incentives given to industry to attract investment to the RIDA (like tax holidays, subsidized electricity and water connections) the area quickly developed and a number of large, medium, and small industries came up in the region. Many of these were ancillary to Bhilai, and based themselves on the Bhilai Steel Plant's (BSP's) production line, like steel rerolling, and fabrication units. However, this spurt in industrialization was almost entirely in the private sector, and unlike the public sector Bhilai Steel Plant, even the bare constitutional and statutory rights were not provided to the workers. The area rapidly became industrialized with maximization profit, and exploiting the resources of the region and the workers. "Lal Hara" unions began to operate here after 1987, and grew rapidly in membership. The workers, the victims of the managements' hire and fire policies, long and ardous working hours, and job insecurity, welcomed the entry of the new organisation, which, although one, operated under various names like the Pragatisheel Engineering Shramik Sangh (PESS), the Chhattisgarh Chemical Mill Mazdoor Sangh, and the Chhattisgarh Shramik Sangh. The CMM (Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha), an organisational platform that was initially used for the rural struggles, was expanded as an umbrella organisation to encompass all the small and big unions in the "Lal Hara" family. The new unions faced very severe repression from the industrialist and state forces. Many of the workers joining the new unions were victimized and retrenched from their jobs. In 1991, Shankar Guha Niyogi, the leader of the movement since 1977, was killed by an assassin. Many worker leaders were attacked physically, and in 1992, police firing on agitating workers killed 16 people. Today, many of the cases filed by the workers in the labour and industrial courts are still sub judice - the initial favourable verdicts of the district courts having been stayed by the industrialists going on appeal to higher courts. Women's participation has been a very major part of this phase of the movement. The organisational umbrella of the Mukti Morcha Manch (MMM) has been extended to all the new areas. The mass appeal to women remains strong. A very positive gain, and one that is often overlooked, has been the fact that there has been an enormous advancement in the democratic experience of a very large number of women. In Raipur and Bhilai, this has included women from the migrant north Indian communities (Bihar and UP) whose life experiences up to the time of their integration into the CMM fold had been very different. In the Urla industrial area, near Raipur, where there have been conscious attempts to settle Lal Hara worker bastis to recreate the community, this difference is clearly to be seen. Women are members of the mohalla development committees in these settlements, and their confidence and participation in community affairs, where none existed six years ago, is to be seen to be believed. And ultimately, this is the achievement of the MMM banner - the achievement of a socially accepted vision of a democratic society for a large number of people, where women are equal partners, in production, organisation and in social life.

Think-It Over 1 Describe the emergence of the Chhattisgarh movement, especially after 1984.

9.3 WOMEN'S ROLE WITHIN THE MOVEMENT

Women's involvement has always been a major feature of Chhattishgarh Mine Shramik Sangh (CMSS) activity. In the manual mines of Dalli Rajhara, where CMSS has its base, women constitute roughly half the workforce. This is because of the nature of the work. It is convenient for the workers to work in pairs (with husband and wife as teams). Again, Grass Roots Mobilisrtion among the Chhattisgarhi small and marghal peasant households from among whom the for Women's Empowerment manual mines workers have come, women have always participated fully and equally in agricultural production. This pattern of women's work in the manual mines is in sharp contrast to the pattern in the mechanized mines, where ,he skilled workers are only males. In the existing situation, skill and educational requirements for work in the mechanized mines have debarred women. In CMSS, women have particrpated in all union struggle and activity. They played a major role in the first strike of 1977, as well as ir the 1981 mcvement to secure the release of union leaders arrested mder the National Security Act. Women are elected union office bearers from the mines in equal proportion to their numbers. However, as the panel of union officebearers has representatives also from transport agencies where wornen do not work, their total proportion among office bearers is less than that of men. Wornen played a leading role in the anti-alcoholism campaign. In propagating the philosophy of this campaign, in organising mohalla (residential) committees for the detection and punishment of offenders, women were much more active than men. The former related to this campaign especially because alcoholism was easily seen to be related to wife-beating and the ;hole range of violence against women. In addition, with men drinking away their earnings, the burden of sustaining the household fell on the women.

Think It Over 2

What part have women played within the CMSS?

9.3.1 Emergence of Mahila Mukti Morcha (MMM)

Though economic discrimination against women is not found in the mines,-certain special areas of women's oppression have, however, been especially noticed in the industrial climate of Dalli Rajhara. One ofthe first areas to be so noticed was the sexual harassment to which women were subjected by lumpen elements. While it is generally true of all women, working class women were particular victims of this. With their newfound strength however, the women were prepared to tackle this strongly. In 1980 when CISF jawans attempted to gang rape a young tribal girl, there was protest demonstrations by the CMSS wornen that led to legal proceedings being initiated against the offenders.

Experiences like these led, in 1980-81, to the launching of a women's front known as the Mahila Mukti Morcha. This was designed to campaign for women's issues, act as an intervening body in case of wife beating, marital dispute, abandonment of women, etc.

By this time the union had emerged as the most powerful community organisation in the area, so such cases were brought to it by the aggrieved (mostly women, though occasionally men) in hundreds. Since the formal union structure was unable to cope with this fold, and since most of these cases concerned women's rights anyway, they were referred, quite naturally, to the women's organisation. At this point, we need to look briefly at the position of women in general in Chhattisgarh, and to certain specificities of the social structure here that have a bearing on the position of women. 9.3.2 Position of Women within the Chhattisgarh Social Structure

Chhattisgarhi women do not wear purdah, except among the Brahmins. Along with men, they have the freedom to terminate married relationships and to remarry. Marriages and relationships are generally terminated on both sides because of extra marital affairs and the desire to contract other relationships, and not because people want to be on their own. The second and subsequent marriage ceremonies are simple and do not have the festivities and gift exchanges of the first (formal) marriage. In some tribal communities the second husband refunds to the first wife the cost of marriage which the latter has borne. First marriages are important social occasions and occur at a young age. Children are born early, and it is quite common for a girl of twenty or so to be the mother of two or three children. It is the customary law with regard to these children that acts as a control mechanism in women's otherwise total freedom to end heterosexual re1ationsh;ps. For it is considered that the natural father and his family have a claim to the custody of the children and the male children have a right to his property. In practice, all kinds of complex custodial arrangements are worked out, because women often feel that fathers are unable- and unwilling to care for the children but keen to exercise their 'rightful' claim. Such cases are generally settled by arbitration through community elders. or, as in this case, Chhattishgarh Struggle community organisation. I Although women in Chhattisgarh enjoy many freedom denied to their sisters elsewhere in the country, this is not in any way to suggest that the ideology of female subservience does not exist here. On the contrary, even in this situation the male authority and dominance is quite clearly to be seen in social and cultural life. Wife beating is common. Chhattisgarhi populal- consciousness is also steeeped in superstition and faith in witchcraft. While men with supposed supernatural powers are venerated as '.baigasl who can drive away evil from the sick, wo~nenwith supernatural powers are termed 'tonhis' and credited with casting spells alone. Witch hunting and ritual lynching of tonhis are still common in villages in Chhattisgarh. 9.3.3 Separate Women's Forum

However, apart from social problems, there was another reason why the union in 1980- 81 was favourably inclined towards the Mahila Mukti Morcha. There was genuine concern about the fact that women were not coming into the union leadership (even shop floor leadership) in the way men were doing. It was felt that women's social and cultural backwardness could be overcome if they had a separate forum in which they could develop their leadership capabilities through day-to-day organisational experience, public speaking, etc.

Between 1980-81 and until 1986-87, the Mzhila Mukti Morcha (MMM) functioned as a social force in the 'camp' (i.e. unplanned) area of Dalli Rajhara where contractual workers and other unorganised workers lived. The wolnen also took over the anti liquor-campaign, and picketed the liquor shop and organised patrols to detect offenders in the mohallas. Women lobbied for public support and administrative action for demands like separate toilets at the bus stand, punishment to hooligans harassing women at the cinema hall and, as a corollary, a separate enclosure for women at the cinemas. The MMM women also took on the task of mobilizing women's participation in the rural struggles in which the union and the Mukti Morcha were involved. For example, on the Nadia Math issue a very large all-women rally was organised at Rajnandgaon in September 1982. In preparation for the rally MMM volunteers went several times to the village to mobilize women, to Speak to them about organising, and on the actual day of the rally MMM women went in very large numbers to join the demonstrations from the village. MMM's public programmes drew considerable number of women, for the entire women membership of the union wzs also deemed to have membership of MMM. Regular organisational meetings were held by the executive (during this entire period there were elections to the MMM executive out of the general body of unioii women) and by the women on the executive of the union, a group of about 100 or so. This smaller group also went through a process of theoretical analysis and discussion on the women's question with several wolnen activists who visited Dalli Rajhara from time to time.

Think It Over 3

1) Describe the general position of women in Chhattisgarh.

2) How has the emergence of Mahila Mukti Morcha (MMM) affected their position in the society?

9.3.4 The Achievements

The most significant achievement of the women of Dalli Rajhara, however, has been in their strong statement, in theory and practice, of women's inherent and equal rights as workers. At the time the union was growing roots, women workers, although not discriminated against with regard to wages, did not enjoy any of their rights as women workers. They had no access to maternity leave or benefits, nor were there any creches at the work site according to the statutory recommendations. The union, men and women, had fought for, and by 1980 achieved these rights. However, the 1980 growth of the union and the women's organisation was in the shadow ofthe mechanization threat. While the contract system and contract labour were seen as a temporary exigency by the management, the contractual workers with over twenty years of service in the mines, saw a stake for themselves in the industry. Grass Roots hlobilisation The union's argument has been that the technology mix in an industry should reflect the for \Vomen's Empuwern~ent conditions of the country in which the industry is located, and that in a labour intensive ...: economy like ours, full mechanization was a threat to the entire working class. It has been union pressure that has kept at bay plans for full mechanization, and the manual mine are currently runiring on an operations mix in which certain functions are performed entirely manually (shoveling, breaking into size) and others (washing, screening, loading) are mechanized. The union has also, over the years, built up considerable public support among the intelligentsia and the national press in support of its cause. Once the management realized the nature of the deadlock, they began to look for ways in which they could retrench 'excess' workforce without coming into direct confrontation with the workers. One such tactic was floating the voluntary retirement scheme for women workers. Under this scheme, women workers who had more than 15 years to go for superannuation were offered large and attractive cash compensations by the BSP if [hey 'voluntarily' gave up their jobs. This came at a time when the women at Dalli Rajhara had already become aware of how mechanization could adversely affect their participation in other industries, (mainly textile and coal mining). The effect was electric. The CMSS and the MMM both took a very strong stand on the non-acceptance of the voluntary retirement scheme, and took conscious steps to deepen its own understanding of the adverse effects of mechanization on working class women. Later, in 1987 at the captive Hirri dolomite mines near Bilaspur, a situation arose in which the management offered regularization of employment to the male partners ofworking couples on the pre-condition that their women accept voluntary retirement. To make the offer irresistible, the man to be regularized was offered a posting at the Bhilai main plant over 100 km. away. The majority union at Hirri was a branch of the CMSS, Women from Dalli Rajhara went in a large body (over 300) to Hirri, held meetings and discussions there, and in 1987 convened a large seminar of working women on 'Mechanization and Women' to which women from all trade unions in the region were invited.

Think It Over 4

Enlist a few achievements of the women as a result of the MMM movement. .

9.4 MMM: THE PROBLEMS

MMM developed out of the trade union experience, and even now the links between MMM and CMSS are very close. Members of MMM are CMSS members themselves or belong to CMSS families. Unlike the trade union front however, membership is much more loosely defined. In the 1982 MMM elections, office bearers were chosen mainly from among wolnen CMSS office bearers. In a few cases, women elected to MMM office were not currently union office bearers, but had earlier come into prominence through union work. MMM meetings are held in the union office, and the union machinery is used to collect funds or organise programmes. This close link has had two kinds of effects on MMM's work. On the one hand, MMM has benefited from the union's support. All union facilities have been extended to it. Articles on MMM have regularly appeared in the union newspaper. The women themselves have felt a strong identification with the trade union, and indeed often do not see a dichotomy in their organisational affiliation. But, on the other hand, this has meant that MMM has never acquired a clear identity or organisation of its own, and after a point such close ties are not necessarily supportive of independent growth. MMM has developed a theory and practice on the women's question that is class and situation specific. But MMM women feel a strong sense of solidarity with wolnen where specific oppression takes forms different from their own, for example with dowry victini-s. They also feel quite strongly on the issue of unequal power relationships within'working class families. But by and large such questions are suppressed, for the union leadership (i.e. leadership of all Mukti Morcha and redlgreen organisations) is not clear whether the women's question should be allowed to get into such 'divisive' channels. The MMM, because of its close links with the union, has also faced problems about generating leadership. The burdens of MMM work, added to those of union work, appear to be overtaxing some of the women who have been providing leadership from 1977 onwards. Whereas the trade union has managed to generate new leadership. MMM, in the absence of a strong independent orgaisation of its own, has been harder hit by this phenomenon. Chhattishgarh Think It Over 5 What is the nature of relation between CMSS and MMM?

9.5 CONCLUDING REMARKS

Chhattisgarh Movement began under the banner ofthe Chhattisgarh Mines Shramik Sangh (CMSS), a trade union of manual mine workers, which was active in the iron ore mines of the southern . Women participation has been a major part of the movement. They constituted almost half the workforce in the manual mines of Dalli Rajhara. In CMSS, women have participated in all union struggles and activity.

Mahila Mukti Mortha (MMM), the women's front, emerged as a powerful forum which acted as an intervening body and campaigned for issues related to women harassment as well as other social issues e.g. anti-liquor campaign. MMM mobilised women to participate in other rural struggles as well.

Through consistent efforts women achieved rights to maternity leave and creche at work site. However, MMM always shared close links with CMSS and did not have an identity of its own and has not been able to provide leadership within the organisation.

But it can be clearly stated that there has been an enormous advancement in the democratic experience of a very large number of women. Solidarity amongst women, increased participation in the community affairs and a new-found confidence amongst women are the immediate impact of the Chhattisgarh Movement.

1 9.6 CLARIFICATION OF THE TERMS USED

I a Subjudice: Put in the jurisdiction of the court. ., a Social Structure: Network of social relationships.

9.7 SOME USEFUL READINGS

Sen, 1 (1990) A Space within the Strategies: Women's Participation in People's Movement, New Delhi.

, Chaudhari M. (1993) Indian Women's Movement: Reform and Revival. Radiant Publications: New Delhi i Grass Roots Mobilisrtion for Women's Empowermcnt References Blumer, H. 195 1. "Social Movements " in Lee A.N. (ed) Principles of Society. New York: Baines D. Noldi. Centre for Women's Development Studies, 1995. Confronting Myriad Oppressions: Voice from the lndian Women's Movement. CWDS: New Delhi. Anveshi, 1993. Reworking Gender Relations, Redefining Politics; Nellore Village Women Against Arrack, Hyderabad.

Govt. of 1988. National Perspective Plan for Women's Development 1988 - 2000 A.D. MHRD: New Delhi. Gugani Hans Raj, 1994. 'Literacy, Liberation and Empowerment of Women'. University News, July I1 1994. Apte, J.S. 1995. 'Education and Women's Empowerment': lndian Journal on Adult Education Vol. 56, No. 3 July-Sept Mazumdar, V. 2001. "Peasant Women Organise for Empowerment: the Bankura Experiment. In SinghaRoy D.K. (ed.) Social Development and Empowerment of the Marginalised: Perspectives and Strategies. Sage Publication: New Delhi. Hasan, N. 1965. Social Security in the Framework of Economic Development. Aligarh Muslim University: Aligarh. National Commission on Self-employment Women in informal sector (1988) Shramshakti. New Delhi: GO]. Banerjee, Nirmal 1992. Poverty Work and Gender in Urban India. Calcutta: Centre for Studies in Social Sciences. Bhowmik, S. 2001. 'Workers Cooperatives and Empowerment of the Marginalised, In SinghaRoy' D.K. (ed.) Social Development ahd Empowernzent of the Marginalised: Perspective and Strategies: Sage Publication: New Delhi. Jain, Devaki (1996) Panchayati Raj-women changing governance. UNDP Gender in Development. Monograph series No. 5. Kaushik Susheela 1994. Women in Local-self Government in India: Strategies and Achievements. Regional workshop on 'Strategies to increase women participation in Local Government: New Delhi. Mazumdar, Vina (1989) 'Reservation for Women'. Economic and Political Weekly, 24 (50): 16 Dec; 2795-2796. Sen, 1. 1990. A Space within the Strategies: Women's Participation in People's Movement, New Delhi. Chaudhari,(l993) Indian Women's Movement: Reform and Revival. New Delhi: Radiant Publications.