IGNOU BDP ESO-12 EMERGING SOCIAL CLASSES IN URBAN INDIA

                   ESO-12   SOCIETY IN INDIA

IGNOU BDP ESO-12 EMERGING SOCIAL CLASSES IN URBAN INDIA

In the urban areas, social classes comprise principally

   1. Capitalists - commercial and industrial

   2.Corporate sector

   3. Professional classes

   4. Petty traders and shopkeepers

   5. Working classes

1.  Commercial and industrial classes

Under the British rule, production in India became production for the market. As a result of this, the internal market expanded and the class of traders engaged in internal trading grew. Simultaneously, India was also linked up with the world market. This led to the growth of a class of merchants engaged in export-import business. Thus, there came into being a commercial middle class in the country. With the establishment of railways, the accumulation of savings on the part of this rich commercial middle class took the form of capital to be invested in other large-scale manufactured goods and modern industries. Like the British, who pioneered the industrial establishment in India, the Indians, too made investment initially in plantations, cotton, jute, mining and so on. Economically and socially this class turned out to be the strongest class in India.

However, Indians lagged far behind in comparison to the British in these activities. Government policy was mainly responsible for their slow development during the colonial period. The conflict of interest with the British led to the formation of independent organisations by the Indian commercial and industrial classes. With the attainment of independence, the emphasis was laid on the rapid industrialisation of the country. In this process, the state was to play an active role. It evolved economic and industrial policies, which clearly indicated the role of the commercial and industrial class as the catalyst of industrialisation in India. The state introduced the mixed economy pattern, which implies that there are a public sector and a private sector in the Indian economy. The commercial and business class has, therefore, grown in scale and size in the  post-independence era.

2. The Corporate Sector

Any organisation that is under government ownership and control is called as public sector units and any organisation, which does not belong to public sector can be taken to be a part of the private sector. The firms and organisation which are owned, controlled and managed exclusively by private individuals and entities are included in the private sector. All private sector firms can be classified into two categories, such as individually owned and collectively owned. Collectively owned firms are further classified into 

1. Partnership firms
2. Joint Hindu family
3. Joint stock companies
4. Co-operatives

The most important of these is the joint-stock organisation, which is otherwise popularly known as the corporate sector. Joint-stock companies which do not belong to the public sector are collectively known as the private corporate sector.

Indian corporate sector is substantially large and highly diversified. The role and significance of private corporate sector can be gauged from the contribution it makes in terms of value added to the national economy. The significance of private corporate sector in the economy is increasing constantly. Due to the radical change in policy approach from regularisation to liberalisation, the private corporate sector has gained centre stage in the economic areas.

3. Professional Classes

The new economic and state systems brought about by the British rule required cadres if educated Indians trained in modern law, technology, medicine, economics, administrative science and other subjects. They established modern educational institutions on an increasing scale. Schools and colleges giving legal, commercial and general education were started to meet the needs of the state and the economy. Thus there came into being an expanding professional class. The professional classes comprise modern lawyers, doctors, teachers, managers and others working in the modern commercial and other enterprises, officials functioning in state administrative machinery, engineers, technologists, agriculture scientists, journalists and so on. The role of this class in the National Movement was decisive. They were, in fact, pioneers, and pace-setters. They were also the force behind progressive social and religious reform movements in the country.

Rapid industrialisation and urbanisation in post-independent India have opened the way for large-scale employment opportunities in industries, trade and commerce, construction, transport, services and other varied economic activities. They have grown considerably in size and scale ever since independence. This class, however, hardly constitutes a homogeneous category. However, even within this non-manual workers, a deep hierarchy exists. There are some high paid cadres at the top. A large proportion, on the other hand, has earnings of only a little above those of the non-manual workers. In view of these observations, we can say that they are only gradually crystallizing into a well-defined middle class.

4. Petty Traders, Shopkeepers and Unorganised Workers

In urban areas, there exist a class of petty traders and shopkeepers. These classes have developed with the growth of modern cities and towns. They constitute the link between the producers of goods and commodities and the mass of consumers. That is, they buy goods from the producers or wholesalers and sell it to the consumers. Thus, they make their living on the profit margin of the prices on which they buy and sell their goods and commodities.

Like all other classes, this class also has grown in scale in post-independent India. The pressure of population on land and lack of avenues of employment in rural society has led to a large-scale migration of rural population to towns and cities in search of employment. Urbanisation, on the other hand, offers a variety of new activities and employment. The opportunities in the organised sector are small and require educational qualification and training. The bulk of migrants lack this pre-requisite and hence the organised sector is closed to them. Invariably then, they fall back upon the unorganised sector of the economy. They work in small-scale production units or crafts, industry or manual service occupation. They get low wages, and also are deprived of the benefits, the organised labour force is entitled to.

Although economic liberalisation is affecting the organised workers directly, there may be considerable impact on unorganised workers.

This class also constitutes an amorphous category. It comprises on the one one hand self-employed petty shopkeepers, traders vendors, hawkers, and on the other, semi-skilled and unskilled workers in the informal sector. They are the least organised of the urban groups in India. 

5. Working Classes

The origine of the working class could be traced back to the British rule. This was the modern working class which was the direct result of modern industries, railways, and plantations established in India during the British period. The Indian working class was formed predominantly out of the pauperised  peasants and ruined artisans. Level of living and working conditions characterised their existence. The government passed legislation, from time to time, such as the Indian Posts Act, the Miners Act, etc. These were, however, considered by the social thinkers as inadequate to protect the rights of the labourers.

These hard conditions of life and labour led to the emergence of trade unions and the growth of working-class movement in India. As a result, there was considerable improvement in the wage structure and working conditions of the working class populations in India.

Working class has grown in volume in post-independent India. It consists of workers employed in different types of industries that have different social and historical background. This diversity in the working class has given rise to a complex set of relations among the different sectors.

The government's attitude towards working class had become more favourable. It had imposed some regulation on the employers and had granted some protection to the workers. Several Acts were passed granting some facilities to the workers.

The trade union's struggle after independence has been against the employers of labour and it is more specific in its goal. Trade union movement in post-independence period has been subjected to further divisions and subdivisions.

The process of current restructuring has a negative impact on trade unions. The new management strategies created an atmosphere of job insecurity among the workers and severely curtailed trade union activity.Due to the consequences of liberalisation of the Indian economy as well as the closure of sick units and changing pattern of work and organisation, the trade union's influence has come down to lowest possible level, resulting in loss of membership. In the present circumstances, the trade unions have to adopt new strategies and have to leave behind their confrontationist approach, which depends heavily on agitations and protest which became irrelevant.