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CHAPTER V
BOOK-BINDING INDUSTRY IN CALOJTTA
I. GROWTH OF BOOK-BINDING INDUSTRY IN CALOJTT A:
The history of book-binding is intimately linked with
the history of book printing. The task of binding a book
is done only after it is printed. The printing indus try in
Bengal is a well established and is among the oldest indus
tries. The first printing press established in Bengal at
Hoogly by a civil servant of the East India Canpany claims
the honour of printing the first book in the Bengali language
in 1778. 1 There is no evidence of a book printed earlier
than this date in Bengal either in Bengali or in English.
Later, the serampore Printing Press played a leading role
in printing Bengali and English books. It is estimated
that by the ye~ 1800, thece were about 21 printers in
Calcutta who had printed over 400 works. 2 Publication of
school ard college text-hooks from Calcutta started mainly
after the foundation of the Calcutta School Book society
in 1818. Befcre that most of the required text-hooks for
English schools, which controlled Calcutta• a education,
were imported. The Calcutta School Book Society acquired
control over all types of schools in Calcutta. The society
published many titles in different subjects and sold cr
distributed mare than one lakh books between tS17 and 1825. 3
Another powerful organisation, namely the Sanskrit Press,
27H
also contributed greatly to the publication of books in
Bengal. The Press Act of 1835 further gave an impetus ·
to this end. But the progre~s was rather tardy till the
second half of the 19th century when several Indian univer
sities were establ !shed. Gradually, the printing industry
of Bengal expanded catering to the needs of entire eastern
India.
Though the printing industry in Calcutta has a long
history, the craft of book-binding could not attain the
status of a distinct industry till the beginning of the
present century. The task of binding a book was initially
done in printing presses. It should, however, be mentioned
that all the presses were not equipped- fa: book work. NJ
a result, only those presses which used to under take boolc
printing maintained separate binding departments inside
the press. But in the beginning of the twentieth century
separate book-binding units star ted coming up in the Bai tha
kkhana and Raj abazar areas of Central Calcutta to cope with
the increasing volume of boOk production. Printing press
owners could no longer print and bind the large number of
school, college and university books, and books on fiction.
Therefore, they themselves encouraged their binders to open
separate boOk-binding units and placed binding orders with
them on a contract basis. 4 These binders were mostly
Muslims, caning mainly fran Dhaka and Mymensingh districts
280
of the then East Bengal (now Bangladesh). 5 Book-binding
became a hereditary craft fer them.
Bindery workshops based on family labOur mushroomed
around the important printing presses and publishing houses.
They were mainly concentrated in the Bai thakkhana and Raj a
bazar areas of central Calcutta. The proximity of some
important educational institutions like Calcutta University,
Presidency College, Vidyasagar College, City College,
Calcutta Medical College and Sanskrit College in the area
called College Par a near Bai thakkhana ensured a big market
for book sellers and publishers. By establishing their
binderies near the Colle.9,! Para, the Muslim artisans could
avoid paying high transport charges. Since the binders were
called 'Daftaries•6
, the whole area where the binderies
came up, was also termed as .Qaftari-f.§rJ• This locality
is situated in the midst of four streets in Central Calcutta
(see map). On the northEE"n side of this locality is the
Keshab Chandra Street and on the western part Raj a Ranrnohan
Sarani. Acharya Prafullya Chandra Road is on the east and
the southern part of this locality is connected with Mahatma
Gandhi Road and Surya sen Street. There are several busy
lanes and by-lanes which criss-cross D§ftari ParJ.
Befcre Independence, Muslims dominated the trade almost
completely. The Bengali 'Bhadralok' of Calcutta evinced
no interest in establishing binderies. !rom t930s onwards
281
some Hindu migrants fran East Bengal started joining this
trade. Sri'kr ishna Binding, the first bindery owned by a
Hindu, was established in 1932. Following this some mere
binderies including Basanti Binding, East End Traders,
Bengal Binding and co., New Bengal Binders and New Calcutta
Book- Binding were set up by Hindu migrants from East Bengal.
The communal riot of 1946 and the partition of Bengal forced
a large number of Muslim book-binders to leave Calcutta for
East Pakistan. During those days, binding work almost came
to a halt. Sane of the printing houses then had to open
binding sections in their own establishments. Within a few
years, however, the Hindu refugees from East Pakistan took
control of the book-binding trade. They purchased all the
abandoned binding houses and also set up new binderies in
_Qaftari Para. It was easy for these refugees to set up
small binderies which required small amount of cap! tal.
Those of the refugees who lost their property in East
Pakistan, joined this trade as workers. They were, however,
not acquainted with the art of book-binding and learned the
7 craft from old workers. and workers of the
Lindustry in Calcutta are
Today, three-fourths of the employers
Hind us. e Fur ther, a good per ti on
of the ...orkers are Hindu migrants. Nearly 40 per cent of
my respondents reported that they were born in Bangaldesh.
Even today a good majority of the bindery workers are members
of Hindu refugee: families although they themselves were
born in India.
282
After Independence, the number of publishing houses,
printing house and binderies increased considerably.
Data on the total number of binderies and the number of
bindery workers in Calcutta prior to 1971 are not available.
The Bureau of Applied Economics and Statistics of Government
of west Bengal which undertook a survey of small indus trial
units in the urban areas of West Bengal in 1972 found that
in 1971 there were 62 small book-binding units in Calcutta
employing 1,678 workers, w1 th an average of 27 workers per
bindery. 9 But most of the binderies employed a handful of
workers only and, therefore, did not attract the provisions
of the Factories Act. The average number of workers emplo-
yed per bindery is high because of a few large binderies.
According to the Statistical Abstract compiled by the Bureau
in 1977, very few binderies were registered under the
Factories Act in west Bengal between 1974 to 1977. 10 The
following table shows the distribution.
--------------------------------------------------------Year
19'74
19'75
1976
19'77
Number
-------------------------11
11
8
8
-------------------------------------------------------
28J
The above table also shows that the number of binderies
in west Bengal registered under the Factories Act had gone
down over the years. The 1981 Census stated that out of
6, 918 'main workers• (a person who has worked for 183 d.ays
or more in a year) employed in the book-bind~ng trade
in West Bengal, 3,571 (5!.62%) were employed in Calcutta
(see Table 5. 2, for details), 11 very few ·of them (less than
3 per cent) were women workers. The Census data, however,
Table 5. 2: Distribution of Book-Bindi_n~~in Wcrkers rn-w~ t ~~:J198 ts~~!l. -----
~-----------------~-------------------------------Male Female Total
------------------- -------------------~-------------Whole State
Urban Areas
Calcutta
6,505
5, 07·4
3, 478
-----------------------------------
313 {4.5%)
257 {4. 8%)
93 (2.6%)
6, 918
5, 331
3, 571
appear to be under estimates. My estimate would be double
the census count. Even a cursory look at the workshops
gives an idea that more than 93 women w~k in the binderies.
I would estimate the proportion of women workers as 30 per
cent of the total. Representatives of employers • associ a-
tions and trade unions believe that around 2,000 units in
Central Calcutta today are engaged in binding and allied
activities like making envelopes, cartons, exercise books
and packaging and labelling. About 400 of them are involved
only in book-binding, and the total number of workers in
these units comes to about 6,000. In the l?.§!!.ELE.£.§
284
and its adjoining areas nearly 4, 000 workers work in about
300 binderies. During the busy season fran November to
March when the demand for binding school text-books, and
diaries goes up, the total number of workers employed rises
to about 8,000. Even during June-July, in the beginning
of college and university sessions, the demand far binding
books picks up, but not to the same extent as in the main
season. In recent years, with an increase in the volume
of book publishing, book-binding has becane a perennial
industry. Still during the busy season the pressure of
binding work increases and the number of workers employed
goes up.
The book-binding industry of Calcutta has now grown
beyond the confines of ~ft~U-2!.3 and i ts adj oi ni ng are as.
Today, the binding work is also done in other places like
Goabagan, Sobhabazar, China-bazar, Talligunge, Barr ackpore,
Kalighat and Jadabpur in Calcutta as well as in 24 Parganas.
Nevertheless, .Q.§fts.EL~2 attracts a major proportion of
binding <X'ders because of its strategic location and nearly
75 per cent of the binderies of Calcutta are concentrated
here.
~truct~~_s>f the ~k-Binding I!;ld~~~:
Book-binders, being the last link in the chain of book
production, are dependent on the publishers. They merely
perform 'job work• at rates fixe} by the publishers. In
283
most cases, publishers select book-binders and ask the
printing press to supply the latter with printed materials.
Printing presses also, in few cases, receive both printing
and binding orders from the publishers. They later select
their own binders. In both the cases, the contract is
informal. NJ a result, book-binders are dependent on the
publishers (and printers in few cases) in a variety of ways.
Owners of binding units as well as trade union representa
tives agree that binding rates have not been upwardly
revised by the publishers to the same extent as the increase
in cost of binding books in the 1 as t few years. Further,
many publishers are known to be bad paymasters, underpaying
the binders and delaying their payments. A few publishers
openly state that they reduce expenses on binding by sacri
ficing quality so as to keep the price of books as low as
possible.. Any attempt on the part of the binders to demand
higher binding rates often results in the cancellation of
orders. Although binders transport printed materials at
their own expense, they are seldom asked to bind all the
printed mater! als at one go. Orders for binding are received
intermittently depending on the market. The binders store
the printed materials till the ·stock gets cleared, which
may take two or three years. Yet they are not fully com
pens a ted fcc the risks involved and for the s tee aqe expenses.
If they refuse to bear these expenses they may lose payment
for fulfilled or1ers an1 may even risk getting their crders
cancelled. Binding rates do not vary with the size of the
order as their rates are quoted per 1, 000 books. The rates
vary between hard-bound and paper-bound volumes. Therefore,
the publishers place orders for books to be bound depending
on the sales performance of the concerned books.
Thus, the book-binding indus try is wholly dependent
on the publishing industry. The growth and development of
the latter determine the former's future. This dependence
has put Calcutta binders in consider able trouble in the
past. AS such the book-binding trade is concentrated mainly
in the small scale sector. Only fi £teen out of 400 binde
ries in Daftari .f.iirJ and its adjoining areas are considered
'big binderies• (employing 20 or more workers). Even these
'big binders' cannot afford to antagonise publishers.
Although, they have a reputation of pro:iucing good quality
of binding, publishers often bypass them and place orders
with many small binders and contractors at lower rates.
The Bangiya Pusthak Gr anthan Byabos ayee Sami ti (Book
Binding Traders• ASsociation), formed in 1957 by the big
binders could do little to organise a strong association
to deal w1 th the publishers. Calcutta book-binders are
now particularly worried about a few contractors and sub
contractors who are not members of their Sami ti. These
contractors are mainly representatives of printing houses
who occasionally take up binding wor~. A few of the
287
senior skilled workers have also joined the fray by taking
up sub-contracting jobs on a small scale. Today, the
established binders find themselves severely undercut
by a host of contractors and small binders who have entered
the industry recently. AS a result, the big binding houses
like Pravabati Binding House, Jagrata Binding Works, New
Bengal Book-Binding, Srinath Book-Binding Works, Basanti
Binding Works, East End Traders, Orient Book-Binding, and
Calcutta Book-Binding have been forced to cut down their
work farce and reduce capac! ty utilisation. One of the
largest binderies in Calcutta started 45 years ago, i.e.
the New Bengal Book-Binders, today employs only 25 workers
as against 100 till mid-1970s. The growth of competition
in the binding trade has been a positive development for
the publishers who can easily turn down the demands of the
Bangiya Pusthak Granthan Byabosayee Samiti (henceforth
Byabosayee Samiti) to raise the share of binders.
The number of contractors in the binding trade has
increased particularly after the state government took
over the responsibility of publishing all the school text
books at the primary level and a few at the secondary level.
Earlier a gOO:! number of publishers used to do this job
throughout the year with th:! help of several printers
and binders. After the government's takeover, government
presses are assigned some printing jobs and the remaining
are distributed by calling for tenders fran private printers.
288
The printers are also required to undertake book-binding.
Since printing and binding of a large number of school
books have to be done within a stipulated pericxi, the work
is taken up only by those who have sufficiently large
amount of capital. This practice has encouraged monO.:·
polistic tendencies among the printers. Even a few news
paper printers in Calcutta have now joined the fray. The
1 arge printing houses are entrusting the binding jobs to
contractors. Though the established binders are not always
denied work, they no longer can depend on printers for such
work, as they used to depend on publishers earlier. The
Calcutta book-binders have time and again demanded that
the state government should separate binding and printing
jobs and should directly distribute binding jobs among the
established binders. Since separation of binding orders
frQn printing orders complicates the procedures involved,
the government has resisted such pressures.
In response to the intensification of competition
among the binders and the escalation of labour charges·
due to the successful struggles launched by the Calcutta
Book Binding Workers' Union, sane of the big binders tried
to introduce modern technology in binding. However, given
the 1 abour intensive character of the trade as well as
uncertainties of bindi~g trade, the new technology has not
proved effect! ve. The orders for binding boolcs, as has
been mentioned earlier, are unpredi.ctable and uncertain.
The mechanised binding operation is not econorni cal far
binding a handful of books. There are also some technical
problems associ a ted with the mechanised binding process.
Thus, for instance, a folding machine cannot adapt i t!!E!lf
to irregular! ties in printing. Binders have to take specl al
care to fOld papers accurately which is done better manu~lly.
Modern cutting machines also have similar problems. As a
result, even those big binders who had installed some modern
machines now find 1 t difficult to utilise them fully. The
fear of keeping machines idle has slowed down mechanisation.
Binders have instead started setting up binderies in those
areas (areas mentioned earlier) where wage rates and rent
are much less. Thus, for instance, the owner of the Calcutta
Book Binding has recently set up a bindery in Barr ackpore.
He receives binding orders in the name of his old unit, but
gets at least half of the work done in his new unit. This
binder says that even after paying the transport charges
for carrying binding material to Barrackpore, he earns a
decent profit. The owner of the G ita Binding Concern has
gone to the extent of closing down his bindery in Daftari
E~.S and establishing a new one in Jadabpur. This is,
however, an extreme example and Calcutta binders in general
have shown less interest to shut their business in Daf~i
Par a because of its st.r ategic location. -
2BO
In their anxiety to cut cost, especially wages, book
binders in Qgftaf.!_fara have been evolving several strata
gems. One such stratagem is the maintenance of two sets
of books to show that less than twenty workers are employed.
If a works hop can be kept outside the pur view of the
Factories Act by such methOd, the employer of that work-
s hop is not obliged to provide statutory benefi. ts to his
workers. Employers can follow such method very easily
by refusing to issue appointment letters and to maintain
attendance registers for the workers.· FUrther, sub-units
or 'disguised units• with different signboards are maintained
to keep an establishment outside the purview of the Facto
ries Act. For instance, the Bengal Binders and the New
Bengal Book Binding are officially two binding units employ
ing 16 and 25 workers respectively. But in reality, both
the binders are owned by the same family, and operate in
the same premises. The employer of the New Bengal Book
Binding few years back had officially entrusted his son the
responsibility of a part of the factory. Sirnil arly, the
owner of Deluxe Book Binding recently has registered a part
of his factory in his wife • s ncrne. AS a result, the two
units, together employing 31 workers are kept out of the
purview of the Factories Act. Adoption of such practices
helps explain why only 7 out of 4 2 binderies surveyed by
me came under the purview of the Factories Act although
the number would have been more than double. Another
291
widespread practice is to deny workers a·permanent status
and declare them as temporary or casual workers. More
then 30 J>4!!r cent of those employed in DaftaE_i Pa:£.i! are
temporary. The number of temporary workers ernpl oyed
increases during the peak business season. These are
seasonal migrants who mainly come from the rural hinter-
land of Calcutta and go back to their villages during the
harvest season. They generally prefer any temporary work.
Employers, therefore, favour these workers. It appears
that the big binders who were forced to cut down employ-
ment and capacity utilisation in the past have also-evolved
counter strategies to minimise cost of labour.
Temporary workers are generally employed on daily
wage and piece rate basis. The employers in Daftari Pa£li
as it appears. from the following Table based on my study
sample, have been forced by the Calcutta Book Binding
workers • Union to grant permanent work status to 68 per
cent of the bindery workers.
Table 5.3: ~~~.,!9n of binder! workers on the basis of their~~k stat~ng mode of pa~!l!
Mode of 'PaYm!nt- _ Daily Piece Monthly
WOrk Status
------~§9e R~~---~W~ag~e~-----------
Permanent 7 24 37 68
Ternpor ary 10 22 - 32 -------------------------------------------------------Total 17 46 37 100
-------------------------------------------------
2~)2
The permanent work status of these workers, however, does
not entitle them to benefits sirnil ar to those permanent
workers who receive a monthly wage. They are paid only
on the basis of number of days worked oc on the basis of
quantity of work done (whichever is applicable). Canpared
to the temporary daily Wa:Je and piece rate workers, they
enjoy bonus, gratuity and a few days of paid leave every
year. However, those daily wage and piece rate permanent
workers who work in binderies registered under the Factories
Act enjoy Provident Fund, Employees State Insurance, and
leave facilities. These daily w~ge or piece rate workers
are categorised as 'permanent workers• because employers
cannot dismiss them even when there is no work for them,
and their service for that period is counted while calculat-
ing bonus, leave, gratuity or other claims. These •perma-
nent' workers, ho·...;ever, have to cOme everyday to work. even
when tooy know there will not be sufficient work or even no
work for them. Temper ary daily wage or piece rate workers
are recruited for specific number of days to accomplish
a particular work. Also,. if a permanent daily wage or
piece rate worker does not turn up for work for a particular
period, casual workers are recruited for that period only.
It, theref~e, follows that employing workers on daily
wage or piece rate basis is more advantageous to the employers
rather than employing workers on monthly wage basis. Monthly
wage workers are considered to be casual about their work 0
2~)J
and they have to b~ pai ::i on Sundays and even when there
is no work. A temper ary worker, whether on daily wage or
piece rate basis, can be terminated as and when the employer
wants. Also monthly wage workers easily become permanent
after one year of service and claim yearly increment, more
leave facilities and higher gratuity claims as compared to
the daily wage and piece rate workers {a detailed discussion
on the benefits obtai ned by different categories of workers
is presented in the third section of this chapter). AS a
result, employers now-a-days hardly appoint any worker paid
on monthly basis. Considering that book-binding depends on
the volume of job works received, it is uneconomical to hire
workers on a monthly basis because there may not be enough
work ttroughout the month.
In an effort to increase the number of temporary and
piece rate workers, Calcutta binders have been employing
a large number of ...,omen and children in recent years. Even
fifteen years ago, there were very few women workers in the
trade. This is. another manifestation of falling prof! t
margins and growth of competition. AS has been mentioned
earlier, nearly thirty per cent of the workers engaged in
book-binding work now are women; and a majority of them
are temporary piece rate wcrkers. Temporary workers in
general, and women workers in particular, refrain from
becaning members of trade unions. The idea of permanent
2!}4
workers as 'trouble makers' or union members also encourages
employers to favour temporary and women workers. Children
are employed as •apprentices" and are~ therefore, paid nomi
nal wages till the employers consider them fit for some un
skilled jobs. The narrow lanes and bylanes that criss~.cross
on ~.!..!a;:i Para present a familiar sight~ groups of children
aged between eight to ten, carrying heavy bundles of paper
on their heads. It is claimed that close to 1, 500 children
below 16 years of age, are employed •illegally" in these
binderies. 12
The employer-employee relationship in the book-binding
industry is a dependent and a personal relationship. Piece
rate workers~ whether permanent or temporary, rely entirely
on their employers for work. Temporary and casual workers
including apprentices cannot also depend on their employers
for job security. The system of recruitment provides
ample opportunities to the employers to control the workers.
Since informal channels predominate in labour recrui trnent,
employers can appoint 'loyal • and ''known • workers. The
importance of informal channels in the recruitment of
workers can be understood from the fact that only ten per
cent of our respondents have secured jobs directly fran an
unknown employer. In most of the cases either a blood
relation or a distant relative (28 per cent), or a 'known'
worker (34 per cent) or a neighbour (20 per cent) who was
known to the employer has procured the job. for the workers.
Employers themselves have also directly recruited some
(8 per cent) 'known• workers. From the point of view of
labour control and 'discipline• the informal system of
r e~ui tment is helpful to the employers. Moreover. in . those book-binding units where the majority of the employers
work along with their employers, intimate face to face
relationship dominate. Hence, 80 per cent of the bindery
workers I interviewed found their employers cooper a t1 ve
in financial terms. And only 6 per cent of them have
identi fled their relations hip with employers as 'bad!.
Thus,while the publishers and printers have tried to
cut costs by passing them on to the boOk-binders, the
binders in turn reduce their costs by cutting down on the
workers• entitlement to statutory benefits. Therefore.
the book-binding indus try is subordinated to the interests
of printing and publishing industry. It is not possible
to understand the problem ··of either the binders or their
employees 'N.i thout taking note of this fact.
II. SOCIO-E<X>NOMIC BA.a<GROUND OF WORKERS IN THE BOOK-BINDING INDUS'IRY IN CALCUTTA:
~leL~male war~_:!:
The book-binding industry. as has been mentioned
earlier, employs both male and female workers. The number
of female workers. however, is only a small proportion of
2Bti
the work force in the binderies. More than 70 per cent of
my respondents are male. Representatives of the employers'
association and trade unions also estimate that nearly 30
per cent of the bindery workers are female. While male
workers are employed for , all kinds of binding jobs, female
workers are mainly recruited for some unskilled jobs like
folding printed forms and stitching them on piece rate
basis •
.§ZUL.!!§-~9!: ou9sL£i _ _!ema1e w ark~ :
Female workers in the book-binding industry mainly
hail from the rural hinterland of Calcutta, and they conmute
over long distance to cane to the place of work. Among
these workers, the majority are from 24 Parganas. Interes
tingly, sane of these workers are deserted wcmen and widows
who have to find their own means of making a living as heads
of their households. There are also unmacried young girls
and married women who work in order to supplement family
income. In some cases the husband and the w1 fe or mother
and daughter work together in the same bindery. Since
folding and stitching printe:i papers do not require much
training, female workE~-IS prefer this trade to working as
domestic servants, which is regarded as a l~er status job.
MJe _f~po~.!.!;!.Q!Li>D.9r ker s :
Though the binding work does not involve heavy work,
aged workers constitute only a small percentage of workers
2 (lt""1 ·-' '
employed. Thus, only 11 per cent of the workers interviewed
(see 'Table 5. 3 for details) are above 50 years of age
while 75 per cent are below the age of 40. The percentage
of young workers in the industry would be much higher since
workers below the age of 15 have not been inter viewed.
----- -----N;Je Group F
------ -- ------- ~---
15 - 20 10
21 - 25 9
26 - 30 17
31 - 35 17
36 - 40 22
41 - 45 7
46 - 50 7
51 - 55 5
56 - 60 3
61 - 65 2
66 - 70 1
---------------------------------------------------Total 100
---------------------- -----------------------~~.9nd Canmuni,!y:
AJJ has been mentioned earlier, workers belonging to
Hindu comnuni ty coming across the border have ou to umbered
the Muslim workers after Independence. Today nearly 75 per
cent of the workers in the industry are Hindus while the
remaining are mainly Muslims. Only one worker interviewed
298
in the industry is found to be a Buddhist. Among the
Hindus, Kayasthas constitute 54 per cent, followed by
Scheduled Caste (11 per cent) and Brahmins (6 per cent).
Two workers are ignorant about their caste background.
Thus most of the Hindu workers belong to the middle level
castes. There is a sprinkling of low level castes.
!dUC~,2E:
Nearly 30 per cent of the workers in Calcutta's book
binding industry, as shown in Table s.s, are illiterate.
Table 5.5: Sex-wise distribution of bindery workers on the basis of tneir1eve_I:of educaJJ~
'LeVel of sex- Total ,!g_gcation Mal!_ '1%}- Feiil.s} e ]]{.J --Illiterate 15 (20.84) 14 (50.00) 29
Class I-IV 16 ( 22. 22) 3 (10.71) 19
Class V-VIII 33 (45.83) 7 (25. 00) 40
Class IX-X 7 (09. 7 2) 3 (10. 71) 10
Class XI-XII 1 (01. 39) 1 (03.58) 2
-------------------------------------------------------Total 72 (100.00) 20 (100.00) 100 --- ---·· - ------------The rate of illiteracy is more among the female workers
(SO%). Though no one among the interviewed workers has
studied beyond class XII, 12 per cent have been educated
upto secondary (Class IX-X) and higher secondary (Class
XI-XII) standard. Table 5.5 also shows that 59 per cent
of the workers have been educated up to the primary level
of education (both lower and upper primary<: Class I-VIII).
Workers interviewed have mainly identified low economic ·~
status and the resultant economic crisis in the family
as the major reason far their illiteracy and lower level
of education.
Mother ...!,9.ngu_!:
Since the book-binding indus try employs a 1 arge number
of local as well as immigrant Bengali ~·arkers, 93 per cent
of the interviewed workers have identified Bengali as
their mother tongue. Hindi and Urdu have been identified
as mother tongue by 5 and 2 per cent of the workers respec-
ti vely.
~.9-!E~:
The book-binding industry in Calcutta has attracted
very few workers from outside Bengal. Thus, only five of
our respondents are from Bihar and one is from Uttar Fradesh.
Among those who hail from West Bengal, a majority have come
from the rural hinterland of Calcutta. Table 5.6 shows
that, while 26 per cent of the interviewed workers perma-
nently reside in Calcutta. 4€ per cent are fran 24 Parganas
and another 20 per cent are from Howr ah, Hoog 1 y, N adi a,
and Murshidabad districts of west Bengal. A majority of
the workers are from 24 pargaaas which is close enough to
Calcutta to commute daily. Workers belonging to other
districts of west Bengal mostly stay at Calcutta in
300
Table 5.6: Distribution of binder~ workers on the basis of their-~rmanent ~d present prace of residence --
Place of Permanent Present Residence --Calcutta 26 57
24 Parganas 48 41
Howrah 7 1
HOogly 6
Nadia 3 1
Murshidabad 3
Bardwan 1
Bihar 5
uttar Pradesh 1 -------------------------------------------------------Total 100 100
-----------------------------------------------rented houses and travel home once a week or once a month.
Table 5.6 makes it clear that the present place of residence
of 57 per cent of the workers is Calcutta while only half
of them stay permanently at that place. In other woras,
31 per cent of the workers hailing from different districts
of west Bengal and those from outside the state maintain
doublf! residence.
M iqr aj:£.2!):
Discussions of migration in India have traditionally
been dominated by the relative importance of 'push' and
• pull • factors in inducing migration. 13 The important role
of 'push' factor is, however, self-evident in a country
where widespread unemployment and under-employment are
301
common. An analysis of the reasons for migration of
bindery workers reinforces this hypothesis. Out of 29
workers who left their homes, 24 (82. 76%) did so because
they could not eke out a livelihood in their native
vi 11 age or town. They, therefore, came to Calcutta in
the hope of finding a job. Among the remaining migrant
labourers, two came to Calcutta for further studies and
two migrated along with their families. Very few of the
migrants have come on their own. Over 93 per cent of them
migrated with the help of primary or secondary kin, or
through the help of villagers and acquaintances. While
father, mother, brother and other relatives have helped
in 74 per cent of the cases, villagers or acquaintances
have helped in remaining cases. Interestingly onily one
of the migrated workers· has brought his family to Calcutta.
The rest either stay alone or reside with relatives and
friends at Calcutta leaving their families at home.
§~ngs and Deb~:
Like other industrial workers, majority of the bindery
workers are indebted. Only a handful of them can save sane
money. The following Table makes it clear that while 85 per
cent of the interviewed workers are indebted, only 5 per
cent of them have saved between ~.200 to ~.1,000. some
of the workers neither have any savings, nee have they taken
any loan since whatever they earn is just not sufficient
302
for their expense:s on food, cloth and shelter. No one
lends them any money because they cannot refund it. None
of the interviewed workers has given any loan to any one.
Among those who are indebted, 31 per cent incurred debts
Table 5. 7: _Qistribu_!.ion of binder~kers on th~ basis_9L..,!Elli savings and debt
------·--------·--------------------------Yes/No Savings Debt
-------------------------------------·-------Yes 5 85
No 95 15 ---------------------------------------------------Total 100 100
-------------------------------------------------------due to deficiency in earnings, 21 pP..r cent took loans for
meeting expenses at marriages of family members, mostly
daughters, and 15 per CE>nt to meet expenses during illness.
Some workers (12 per cent) have also taken loans during
the off season when their earnings were low. It appears
that the general poverty of bindery workers is the major
reason for their indebtedness. Not having a financial
c0hion, t~y are forced to borrow at times of heavy .
expend! ture when some one in the family falls ill or has
to be married. They borrow mainly from co-villagers
(47.06%), employers {20%) and relatives (14.12%). Sane
workers {8%) have taken loans from Mahaj ans who charge
8 to 10 per cent interest per month.
303
~nd~_g~J!!£>:
Although over 70 per cent of the workers interviewed
in the book-binding industry possess land, the size of the
land they hold is small. Thus~ among the land holders
73 per cent possess land below one bigha (1,600 sq. yct:_ds)
and another 15 per cent hold land between one to bolO bighas.
Moreover, nearly half of the land holders share land with
other members of the family. Hence very few of them depend
solely on land as a source of income. AS such 70 per cent
of the land holders do not earn any thing from land, and
among the res t 1 18 per cent earn below Rs. 2, 000 per year
from land. Therefore, nearly 30 per cent of the land holders
are marginal farmers.
III. BENEFITS OBTAINED BY WCRKERS AND CONDITIONS OF WORK:
It has been stated earlier that over the past two
decades keen competition among uhe Calcutta binders and
the success of the Calcutta Book Binding Workers• Union
in bargaining for higher wages as well as some other faci
lities for the workers resulted in several institutional
devices and illegal practices followed by the binders. All
these devices and practices ultimately lecd to a situation
where some workers are denied various wage and non-wage
benefits. Thus, the wcrkers in a benami or disguised
bindery cannot claim statut~y benefits even if that unit
301
actually employs more than 19 workers and comes under the
purview of the Factories Act. On the other hand, workers
employed outside J2.ilftari_f.¥'J are paid less wage and are
not provided any benefit because the union's strength is
limited only to binderies in ~.£!~ Para and its adjoining
areas. Even w1 thin the ~.§!!_E~.§, employment of temporary,
casual, piece rate and child workers help employers in
skirting the provisions of labour laws. Here a detailed
enquiry into various wage and non-wage benefits available
to workers in Daft.§!i__f¥J and its adjoining areas is done
to assess the impact of trade unionism in these areas.
Due to the success of trade unionism, workers in the
binderies in .Q2..ti..§!'!_f,.Sll'J and its adjoining areas today
have a fixed wage rate. The Government of west Bengal has
not yet issues notification enforcing minimum wages for
bindery workers. Hence, the Calcutta Book Binding Workers •
Union had to force the employers in 1980 to accept three
wage rate systems for monthly wage, daily wage and piece
rate workers. Subsequently, these rates \\'ere enhanced
in 1984, 1985 and 1986. AS per the agreement reached
between the union and the Bangiya Pusthak Granthan Byabosayee
Samiti in 1986, monthly wage, daily wage and piece rate
workers would be provided following wage rates: In a
bindery employing less than 25 workers, the monthly salary
305
of an unskilled worker is Rs. t95/- for a 'boy • and qs. 245/
for a • helper •. Generally children are employed in the
'boy' category of wor'k. A semi-skilled worker, usually ·
termed as 'nim-karigar' receives Rs. 295/- per month and a
skilled worker or 'karigar• is paid Rs. 345/- per month.
The supervisor or 'J.3madar', who is generally a high slcilled
worker, is paid Rs.25/- extra in addition to his wage (Rs.345/-)
per month. The wage rate of all categories of workers in
binderies employing 20 or more workers is Rs.lO/- more than
the above rate. Monthly wage workers are also entitled to
the benefits of yearly 'increment. The rate of yearly incre
men t for unskilled, semi-slcilled an:i slcilled workers is
~s. 15/-, Rs. 10/- and Rs. 7/- respect! vely.
As opposed to the monthly wage workers, daily wage cr
piece rate workers do not enjoy the benefit of annual incre
ment though some of these workers are permanent. These
workers, hc:Mever, are not paid less as compared to the
monthly wage workers. Thus, the daily wage rate of an
unskilled worker is Rs. 13/- (Rs. 13x26 days=Rs. 338/- per month).
For those who are semi-skilled and skilled, the daily wa;Je
rate is Rs. 14/- and Rs. t5/- respect! vely. It is important
to note here that daily wage rates do not di £fer between
permanent and temporary workers.
For the piece rate workers, the number of pages to
be folded or stitched determines the rate. Far folding
30G
1, 000 sheets each containing 16 printed pages, Rs. 3/- is
pai::l, while far folding equal number of sheets each contain
ing 8 pages, the rate is Rs. 2/-. Workers are also paid
higher rate CRs. 4/-) far folding bigger sized paper (Double
Demai, Double crown and the like). A worker after eight
hour•s duty can fold between 3,000 to 5,000 sheets depend
ing on his or her skill. Stitching rates are also fixed
on t~e basis of number and size of printed forms as well
as quality of stitching. Generally the rate varies between
60 to 70 paise for stitching 1,000 sheets each containing
t6 printed pages. On an average a piece rate worker earns
between Rs.l2/- to Rs. 15/- a day after eight hours work.
Significantly, temporary piece rate workers receive higher
rates for both stitching and folding operations as canpared
to the permanent workers. Thus, a temporary piece rate
worker gets 10 paise more for stitching 1,000 sheets each
containing 16 pages. He is also paid a higher amount far
the folding work. This discrepancy in rates is to compensate
for the temporary workers' lack of access to ESI, Provident
Fund, leave, bonus and graltility benefits. While the
employers • as soc! ation under pres sure of the union has
agreed to pay higher rates to temporary piece rate workers,
daily wage temporary workers are not given higher wages.
They, therefore, are the worst hit. Sane of them, however,
receive bonus and enjoy 12 days leave a year. One would
still argue that the Calcutta Book Binding Workers' Union
has not allowed the binders to pay less wag\s to temporary
307
workers as compared to the permanent workers.
Further, women workers are paid equal to their male
counterpart. NJ has been mentioned earlier, folding and
stitching rates for women workers like their male counter
part are decided on the basis of total number of these
pages folded or stitched. Nevertheless,piece rated women
workers generally earn less than male workers since they
cannot work, in the evenings and have to return home early.
Thus, the following Table s haws that out of 46 piece rate
workers interviewed, 27 (58. 70%) are women and not a single
of them earn above Rs.400/- a month while 58 per cent of
the male piece rated workers earn so. Again, only two
(10.53%) male piece rated workers earn below~. 300/- a
month while 11 (40. 74%) female workers earn so.
Table 5.8: Sex-wis~-~~ibution of piece rated bin~ workers_..2D the bas,!!..,.9f their monthly income from wag!.§
sex Monthly lpcom~::<Bit2-tf.:an w59es) =- Total ------=2~0-0,- 300___J00-400 400-500 500-600 600-700
Male 2 6 6 4 1 19 (10.53) (31.58) (31.58) (21.05) {05.26) (100.0)
~m~e 11 ~ ~ (40. 74) (59. 26) (tOO. 0)
-----------------------------~--------------------------Total 13 22 6 4 1 46
30d
Table 5. 9: Distrib_illon of bindery workers on th~ b~~.!.! Of their work status_.2nd monthl.v_,!ncome f£.9!1 wages
w"OrTstatus-~E!llhli Irlcane Ji:)-t!9m- wii'les -- Total· 200- 300 300-4 oo 4 oo-5 oo 5 o"'0-6oo 6 o 1-7 oo - ------ -- -------------
Permanent
Temporary
9 (13. 24)
43 11 (63.23) (16.18)
10 14 6 (31. 95) (4 3. 75) (18. 75)
4 (5.88)
2 {6. 25)
1 68 (1.47) (100.0)
32 {100.0)
---------------------------------------The difference between the permanent and temper ary
workers as regards to their monthly incane is, however,
negligible. The above 'f.able (5. 9) s haws monthly income
from wages of 100 bindery workers. The Table also shows
that majority of the bindery workers earn below Rs.400/-
per month fran wages. The difference between the monthly
earnings of permanent and temporary workers which appears
from the above Table is in reality marginal. Most of those
who earn below Rs. 300/-. are actually new recruits and are.
there fore, unsldlled workers who cannot work fast. And it
is obvious that the number of unskilled workers is more
among the temporary workers. Hence, nearly 32 per cent
of the tempcrary workers earn between Rs. 200 to lls. 300/- a
month fr em wages.
Other than wages, bindery workers also earn from over-
time work for which higher rates are provided. During the
peak business season when the demand for binding books
30B
picks up, each and every bindery remains open till mid
night. Workers generally earn some extra money by putting
in overtime work at that time. In some big binderies, where
the work pressure continues throughout the year, workers
are always asked to work overtime. It is, however, a
di ffi cult job to ascertain how much a worker earns from
overtime work per month. Most of the interviewed workers
could not provide any definite figure to' this end. Never
theless, 32 per cent of them have said that they generally
earn bet..._.een Rs. 300 to Rs.SOO/- a year, while another 22 per
cent earn between Rs.800 to ~.1,000/- annually 'from overtime
work. sane of the workers {18%), employed mainly in big
binderies, work over time throughout the year and thereby
earning between Rs.1,200 to Rs.l,SOO/- annually.
M far as non-wage benefits are concerned. Provident
Fund and ESI are provided only to permanent workers of binde
ries registered under the Factories Act. Thus, 16 permanent
workers of 7 binderies in Daftari P~, as shown in Table
5.10, receive both ESI and Provident Fund facilities because
those binderies are registered under the Factories Act.
workers of other binderies, even having permanent week status,
are deprived of this facility since the law does not permit
such facilities to be provided to workers of non- factor! es.
Among other non-wage benefits, gratuity is available
to a majority of the permanent workers irrespective of
310
Table 5 • 10: Dis tr ib u tio.!L2£ binder}!' wor,-=k~e_r~s_....w-.h'-'io~.sr.:;;r .... e entitled to ESI, Provident Pun.:l and ~~.tY facilities fran their res~tive employer!
Benefits Yes; ~ily wcqe_ ~onthiy WfNe _Eiece Rate Total No Perma- Tempo- Perma- Tempo- Perm a- Tempo-
nent rary_ nen_!:. rEv ne_D,S rary
E.S.I. Yes 1 10 5 16
No 6 10 27 19 22 84
Total 7 10 37 - 24 22 100 ---------------------------------------------------------------Provident Fund
Yes 1 10 5 16
No 6 10 27 19 22 84
Total 7 10 37 24 22 100 ---------------------------------------------------------------Gratuity Yes 5 29 11 45
No • 2 10 8 13 22 55
Total 7 10 37 24 22 100 -- --- --------- --whether they work in a factory or not. Table 5. 10 shows
that 45 per cent of the interviewed workers, all of whom
are permanent, are entitled to gratuity benefit. The Table
also makes it clear that only permanent status of work does
not entitle a worker to enjoy gratuity benefit, though the
employers are supposed to provide this benefit to all
permanent workers. According to the agreement signed
between the union and employers • association in 1980,
permanent workers of all establis tntents employing ten oc
more workers should get gratuity at the rate of 15 days
salary a year. Even those who do not cane under the rules
regarding gratuity but have worked for five or more years
till December 1980 should also be given g:ratuity at the
rate of 10 daY's salary a year. It, appears that those
who could put pressure on their employers,. are able to get
the agreement implemented. This is true about other bene
fits which the employers have formally agreed to provide.
For instance, though the employers have agreed in 1980 to
issue appointment letters to each and every worker within
15 days of his appointment, only 47 per cent of the inter~
viewed workers, all of whan are permanent, have so far
received it. Similarly, only 25 binderies in Daft~i Par~
maintain attendance registers for their permanent workers.
This means that arriving at an agreement does not necessarily
guarantee its implementation. Those who have not received
appointment letters or do not sign in attendance register
can find it difficult to lay claim to <;Tatuity. Temporary
workers are not given appointment letters or are not asked
to sign in the attendance register because these practices
strengthen their claim for the permanent work status.
Among the remaining non-wage benefits, leave and bonus
facilities are provided to nearly 70 per cent of the workers,
mostly permanent. Table 5.11 shows that very few of the
temporary workers receive such benefits. The 1980 agree-
ment, which still determines the rules regarding leave, has not
made any provision for the temporary workers enjoying any
leave facility. Accoriing to that agreement, monthly w&ge
permanent workers in workshops with less than 20 workers would
enjoy 25 d'cW's leave a year whereas piece rate and daily
Yearly Nil 7 3 20 30 Leave
12 days 3 3 13 2 21 Days 15-22 days 2 6 3 11 25 days 1 23 24
30 days 1 6 5 12
35 days 2 2
Total 7 10 37 24 22 100 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Bonus Nil 6 22 28
Rs. 100- 300 1 4 5 6 16
Rs.301-500 6 24 12 42
Rs. 501-7 00 6 6 12
Rs. 701-900 2 2
Total 7 10 37 . 24 22 100
--~-~~~-----~-----------~--~----------------------~~---- -·---~----------~
wage permanent workers of such workshops would be sanctioned
only 12 day's leave a year. All the permanent workers (daily
wage, piece rate and monthly) of • factories • (employing 20
or more workers), however, would be sanctioned 30 day.•s
leave a year. It appears from Table 5.11 that majori~ of
the permanent workers in Daf~,ii!"_!_E2-£Sl get leave as per the
1980 agreement. Three piece rate permanent workers are
denied 12 day's leave a year. while six monthly wage perma
nent workers are sanctioned less than the stipulated number
of leave days a year (15-22 days). Interestingly, the Table
shows that few temporary workers also get 12 day's leave a
year and some of the permanent workers are sanctioned leave
more than the provisions of the 1980 agreement. It should
be mentioned here that apart from 25 or 30 day's yearly
leave, a monthly paid permanent workers is also entitled
to enjoy Sunday as a paid holiday.
Bonus facility available to more than 70 per cent of
the workers is shared by all the permanent workers and a
few daily paid temporary workers. Bonus is paid before
the Durga Puj a festival. Table 5. 11 shows that piece rate
temporary workers do not receive any bonus. The amount of
bonus paid to workers vary from unit to unit. The lO"west
amount of bonus reported is Rs. 100. Table 5. 11 reveals that
among those who receive bonus, 58 per cent get between
Rs. 301 to Ds. 500, and another 22 per cent get less than that.
Only few workers, employed mainly in biq binderies, are paid
bonus above Rs. 500.
The above analysis makes it clear that by employing
temporary workers employers cannot only avoid paying bonus
and gratuity_ but avoid Provident Fund, ESI, increment,· and
leave facilities. Appointment letters are is sued only to
permanent workers, and they are asked to sign in the atten-
dance registers. It goes to the credit of the Calcutta
Book Binding Workers • Union to have procured the above
mentioned facilities for some of the permanent workers.
The union also could make at least forty to fifty per cent
of the daily wage and piece rate workers permanent. FUrther,
the union could bargain for higher wages for all categories
of workers includ lng those who are temporary. These chan;7es,
however, have limited impact over the workers employed
outside Daft~i P~.ii· Also the success of the union in
achieving some demands of the workers in ..Qs.!_1:ari Pa!:2 and
adjoining areas has led to several other tendencies like
decentralization of the industry and employment of more and
more temporary workers.
While issues rel ate:l to wage and non-wa;Je benefits have
been the major reasons of 1 abour unrest in the book-binding
industry in Calcutta, the question of health and working
conditions has so far been neglected. It is, however,
acknowledged that workers in binderies perform their duties
in the rr.idst of several difficulties. '!'he work is done
in deer epi t, crowded rooms with no proper ven ti 1 a t1 on.
Some of these rooms are damp and dirty also. Drainage
facilities in .Q.s!J~.!_Pa£3 are lacking and the area becomes
water-logged even when there is a small shower. Further,
facili tiPs like proper lighting arrangement and electric
fans are hardly provided in the small and congested binding
rooms. ThotlrJh a 1 arge section of workers in the indus try "?omen,
consists ofLtoilet facilities for them are non-existent.
Bindery workers are also exposed to the risk of contracting
tuberculosis because they handle paper and breathe paper
dust. Three of the interviewed workers suffered from this
disease and others fear that they may also catch the disease
in their old age. Nearly 20 per cent of our respondents
have complained of pain in the chest and postural problems.
Another 30 per cent always feel weak after work. These
problems may have occurred due to hard work done sitting
for long hours in congested and dirty rooms as well as due
to insufficient diet. Because there are not many machines
used, accidents are almost negligible. Very few of the
binderies use modern powe~ machines and the work is done
mostly by hand. The only widely used machin~ which may
be dangerous is the huge cutting machine. Never the less,
very few workE-rs in the industry have so far been affected
by machine accidents, and all of them have received monetary
compensation from their employers due to the pressure
exerted by the union.
The Calcutta Book Binding rto/orkers' Union, which has
gained popularity for its determination to fight for the
demands of the bindery workers, has not paid attention to
improve the health and working conditions. The union, in
its course ot struggle, has demand.ed implementation of
labour laws. But its attention has always been on provident
Fund, Gratuity and leave facilities, rather than on ESI
facility. Moreover, the union's demand list has never
included i~sues regarding working conditions.
One should, however, agree that unionising workers
of small binderies and fighting for their demands, is not
an easy job. The union cannot adopt an uncompromising
attitude towards the binders and thereby put a long list
of demands because these binders are dependent on the
publishers and they merely perform job work. While fight
ing for the demands of the workers the union has to consider
the problems that binders face. But, at the same time, the
union will have to resist illegal practices followed by
binders. Considering the strains and limitations of the
Calcutta Book Binding Workers' Onion, its success over the
past few decades in achieving several demands of the workers
in Qg.J.!.9,;:i P.9f:a and its adjoining areas is corrrnendable.
The way the union has achieved these success is detailed
in the next chapter.
317
IV. SUMMARY:
The craft of book-binding was initially started in
printing presses. But in the beginning of the present
century, ~1i th the increase in the volume of book production,
separate binderies came up in Daf~~EL~ in Central
Calcutta. Be·fore Independence, Muslims fran the then
East Bengal dominated the trade. After the convnunel riot
of 1946 and the partition of Bengal, the number of Muslim
artisans decreased sharply and Hindu refugees caning over
fran East Pakistan took control of the trade. Today, three
fourths of the employers and workers of the indus try in
Calcutta are Hindus. The industry now has grown beyond
the confines of Q.2.f..!-..Sif~J and it.s adjoining areas
although these areas attract a major proper tion of binding
orders because of its location. It is estimated that
there are about 400 binderies in Calcutta 300 of which
are located in E2Jj:ari Pa~ alone. The indus try roughly
employs 6,000 workers 30 per cent of whom are women. During
the peak business season, bet...Jeen November to March, the
number of workers employed rises to about 8, OCO. The book
binCling industry in Calcutta has attracted very few workers
from outside Bengal. Most of the workers hail from the
rural hinterland of Calcutta. An analysis of the socio
economic background of bindery workers s haws that most of
them are young, they have no or very little education,
have very little 1 and and are mostly indebted.
316
The book-binding industry~which is c6ncentrated
mainly in the small scale sector, is wholly dependent on
the publishing and printing houses. Binders are the last
link in the chain of book prOduction. They merely per form
'job works' at rates fixed by the publishers and in sane
cases by printers. This subordinate position has put
Calcutta binders in considerable trouble. Even a fe\v of
the big binders cannot afford to antagonise publishers
although the binding rates have not been upwardly revised
to the s arne extent as the escalation in the costs of bind
ing books and raw materials. Under pressure from the
Calcutta Book Binding Workers • Union, the binders had to
increase the wage rates for the daily wage, monthly wage
and piece rate workers several times after 1978. Bindery
workers {both permanent and temporary) in Qafta£1_~~
and its adjoining areas today have a fixed rate of wages
although the government has not yet fixed minimum wages
for them. Employers also have to pay higher rates to
temporary piece-rate workers in order to compensate for
their lack of access to ESI, Provident Fund, leave, bonus
and Gratuity benefits. These benefits are available to a·
majority of the permanent workers in Daft_2ri Par~ and its
adjoining areas where the union is powerful. Quite naturally,
the Calcutta binders have demanded upward revision of
binding rates. The publishers, however, inspite of their
conrnitment to increase the binding rates, have started
31 ~i
encouraging small binders and contractors -to take up jobs
at rates lower than the established one. The increase
in the number of such •new binders• has sharpened compe-
ti tion among Calcutta binders. In response to the intensi-
fication of this cOTTlpeti tion and the union's success in
raising wages, some of the big binders attempted to intrO-
duce modern technology in binding. But given the labour
intensive character of the trade as well as uncertainties
involved in binding trade, the new technology has not proved
successful. Hence, they have now star ted setting up binde-
ries in those areas of Calcutta .and 24 Parganas where the
wages of workers and room rent are much less as compared
to those in .!22.ll.2fL.E~J· Several other stratagems like
keeping the official number of workers employed low, main-
taining disguised units and employing more and more
temporary prefer ably women and children workers on daily
wage and piece rate basis are evolved by binders in Daftari
E.s.rJ to escape the provisions of the Factories Act. These
new developments have made the union's task more challenging.
NOTES:
1.
2.
B.s. Kes av an, ~.5!:L of pr i n~i,!l..9_ and Pu~J:.Y:!!9-2E India- A Stu_gy_of Cultural Re-awakeii'Ing, vol.I Tsouth Indian Origins of printing and its efflorescence in Bengal), (National Book Trustofindia, 1985), p.181.
See, tor details, G. Shaw, £E..!E~.!E.5L.1P_Ca_lcu~a _g~ .1§00 - A ~cription and C_hes_511St of Printing:Jn Tat! 18th century Calcu.tta (London: Bibliographical society, ~TI:- -----
31-U
3 o B.S. Kes avan, .212• .£!..!. # pp. 266-6 7.
4. Labour Investigation Committee, Report on Labour Conditions in Printing Presses, by Armed Mu'khter (Delhi: Manager of Publicat:IOn, Govt. of India, 1946).
5.
6.
7.
e.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
P. Guha Thakur ta, December 3, 1984,
"Boun::i to Last", ~..§EJ.~m2!}, p. 3.
The term • Daftari • in Bengali generally denotes a peon or record keeper of an office. The binders are called 'Daftaries • probably because the redord-keeper of an office also used to bind those records in the past.
The craft of book-binding requires only a few months training.
P. Guha Thakurta, .EE• ~·
Bureau of Applied Economics and Statistics, The Survev of Small Industrial Units in Urban Areas of ~--~~-------- --------------- -----------~~Bengal- J-_96~971, Government of West Bengal, 197 3.
Bureau of Applied Economics and Statistics, Stati2; tigl Abs tf..?£!:.£._ We~_!:~~g_pL__j.97.§__.§E.9__L977, Government of West Bengal, 1977.
Census of India, 1981, General Economic Tables, Part III, A & B, series23-,-~st8engal,p:2T5.
P. Guha Thakur ta, .2P· .£.!~·
M.S. A. R ao (ed. ) , Studies in_~igrreti O.!}_;__!Eter,n.,iil__sind _!.n._~nati onaJ_!11g£ ati..QE in_ Ind.~ Del hi: Manoh ar Publi cati ens, 1986.