National Situation

Report from Dhanbad Coal Fields

Details

Published on Monday, 04 July 2011 03:53

Written by Radical Socialist

Conclusion

The impoverishment of the proletariat in the mining areas, the destructive character of the industry and the repressive nature of the state regime clearly show the NECESSITY for social transformation towards a class-less society – but only the productive collectivity of the working class can express the POTENTIAL for creating this different society. In Dhanbad area the borderlines between ‘impoverishment of the proletariat’ and ‘social productivity of the working class’ are blurry, but they exist and their over-coming poses the major challenge for a class movement. In other terms: the divisions between different segments of the working-class cannot be done away with by mere preaching of a ‘class position’. With the trap of regionalism out of the way and internationalism imposed by the industrial set-up itself the proletariat can start from its different conditions and find common trajectories in their actions. Let’s document and debate our experiences – here ‘old’ organisations like the RSP(ML) – or rather their communist working class militants – are put to the test.

Footnotes

1. http://sanhati.com/articles/3490/
2. http://www.worldcoal.org/coal/coal-mining/
   http://www.indiaenergyportal.org/overview_detail.php
3. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/30/1/Sanchez_Workers_Netas_and_Goondas.pdf
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sindri
5. Interesting documentary on Dhanbad (http://www.cultureunplugged.com/documentary/watch-online/filmedia/play/1169/Hot-As-Hell—Dhanbad-s-Dons)
6. http://www.scribd.com/doc/7530719/Labour-Movement-in-India1945
7. Work and Time: The Everyday Lives of the Jharia Coalfield Mazdoors,
   1890s-1970s – Mr. Dhiraj Kumar Nite
8. Interesting document on situation in coal belts in 1958:
   (http://www.indialabourarchives.org/usr/local/gsdl/cgi-bin/library?e=q-000-00—0ail-aituc%2chemant%2cindrani%2cwet%2coral%2cbms%2ctexah-01-0-0-0prompt-14-Document-stx–0-1l–1-en-50—20-about-1958–001-001-1-0isoZz-8859Zz-1-0&a=d&c=aituc&cl=search&d=HASHa184d1cc86d3ad5921c4eb.129)
9. Nationalisation by Default: The Case of Coal in India Rajiv Kumar
10. Chhattisgarh Mines Shramik Sangh was formed on 3 March 1977 at Dalli Rajhara in southern Durg district.
    http://gurgaonworkersnews.wordpress.com/workers-history/#fn61
11. DHANBAD Miners’ Fight against Imposters, Amiya Rao, (December 12, 1981)
12. Class and Tribe in Jharkhand Nirmal Sengupta (EPW 1980)
13. Jharkhand Movement, January 10, 1976 (EPW)

From GurgaonWorkersNews June/July 2011 – Report from Dhanbad Coal Fields