Labour Situation in an Indian Steel Plant During the Colonial Period: A Case Study of the IISCO Steel Plant

The present paper wishes to explore the labour situation at the IISCO Steel Plant during the colonial period. In 1918, the Indian Iron and Steel Company (IISCO) was established at Burnpur, near Asansol. Labourers had played a vital role in the development of the IISCO plant. The real history of the development of iron industry in this region can be traced backed in the second half of the 19th century. In 1870, the Bengal Iron Works Company was established at Kulti, a few miles away from Asansol. This Bengal Iron Company was amalgamated with IISCO in 1936, therefore, the present paper includes the labour situation of Kulti works too. The present paper, thus, deals with the working condition and wages of the labourers at IISCO (Burnpur works) as well as at Kulti works. The paper also deals with the labour union and strikes during the late 1930s and early 1940s, facilities provided to the labourers such as housing, medical and health etc. during the colonial period. While a number of historical researches on labour have been done on the other steel plants of India, but IISCO has failed to attract attention of the scholars, therefore, the present paper has tried to explore the labour situation at IISCO and at Kulti works during the colonial period.