Class 10 | History | Chap 5 | Factories Come up | Where did the workers come from? | NCERT | CBSE Where Did the Workers Come From?
Factories needed workers. With the expansion of factories, this
demand increased. In 1901, there were 584,000 workers in Indian
factories. By 1946 the number was over 2,436, 000. Where did the
workers come from?
In most industrial regions workers came from the districts around.
Peasants and artisans who found no work in the village went to the
industrial centres in search of work. Over 50 per cent workers in the
Bombay cotton industries in 1911 came from the neighbouring
district of Ratnagiri, while the mills of Kanpur got most of their
textile hands from the villages within the district of Kanpur. Most
often millworkers moved between the village and the city, returning
to their village homes during harvests and festivals.
Over time, as news of employment spread, workers travelled great
distances in the hope of work in the mills. From the United Provinces,
for instance, they went to work in the textile mills of Bombay and in
the jute mills of Calcutta.
Getting jobs was always difficult, even when mills multiplied and
the demand for workers increased. The numbers seeking work were
always more than the jobs available. Entry into the mills was also
restricted. Industrialists usually employed a jobber to get new recruits.
Very often the jobber was an old and trusted worker. He got people
from his village, ensured them jobs, helped them settle in the city
and provided them money in times of crisis. The jobber therefore
became a person with some authority and power. He began
demanding money and gifts for his favour and controlling the lives
of workers.
The number of factory workers increased over time. However,
as you will see, they were a small proportion of the total
industrial workforce.
Class 10 | History | Chap 5 | Factories Come up | Where did the workers come from? | NCERT | CBSE
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