Industrial Relations

Go on, explore

2010-01-31T05:47:00.001-08:00

The pursuit of creativity isn't a once in a lifetime quest some seek it every moment of their lives. The great creative masters never limited their defination of creativity Their pursuit was on going, to find newer and unusual ways to express themselves through their art and otherwise.

The secret inspiration behind MF Hussain's masterful strokes was his love for 'nature, good food and women': Ustad Amjad Ali Khan spends his first few moments every morning listening to sounds of pigeons: theatreperson Amal Allana writes poetry that stirs her soul, when she's not acting! And believe it or not. painter Paresh Maity seeks creativity travellings to "green forests" and living with bare necessities. "Even making a cup of tea in a forest is a creative process," he says.

One of the secrets of creativity is to master your innovative abvilities and practice "everyday creativity". In fact, psychology Today reports that everyday creativity is about finding new expressions of originality and meaningfulness. Each morning in her home in Nizamuddin, Anjolie Ela Menon sits very still at the window of her studio. "As the early morning mist begins to lift, the basti around me comes to life. Sigris are lit and the women bargain loudly with the reri-walas for the day's vegetables. Istare at the blank white board before me with anticipation. Today, will inspiration surface from fragments of last night's dream, or will it be the old man with his goat sitting on the charpoy in the lane outside? I pursue new roads to seek creativity. Just watching people can be great inspiration."

The good news is, you can make everyday creativity a habit. It helps you recognise your skills. In fact, creative coaches believe mornings are the best time to trigger Goa-based writer Sudhir kakkar agrees with. "Creative moments in sriting are those when reasons and imagination, the rational and non-rational are in exquisite balance. My most creative time is the twilight stage between sleeping and waking in the morning I do not spring out of bed but keep lying down for a few minutes while fleeting impressions flit across my mind. There are many other moments" stopping to watch the play of small children, contemplating sunsets, taking a road one has not taken before which, I believe, rejuvenate imagination."

Just try to find an express of your creative self. It could be wearing your hair in a different way or trying a new colour on your lips. Interestingly. Zorana Iveevic, of Tufts University, inspired her students by indulging in creative acts from joke-telling to trying wacky recipes. Says sarod master Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, "We all find unique ways of expressing our creativity. when I'm not playing the sarod, I hum and sing to myself. It's a new expression . I belong to the world of sounds. I also hear the birds chatter in the morning. I experience the world of aromas through new cuisines."

Everyone should approach their experiences with an open mind. Photographer Annu Palakunnathu Mathew. who is a professor of photography at University of Rhode Island, USA, believes, "As a photographer, Itry to see each day distinctively. I would suggest looking at everyday objects or people that you interact with and trying to 'frame them in your mind. I travel a lot, which also find fascinating."

So, if you are a busy individual, slow down and explore laziness. Try doing the opposite of what you ' re comfortable with. Says Kuchipudi dancer Kaushalya Reddy, "We need to be stimulated. I do interior designing and also design jewellery." Meanwhile , actor Uday Chopra sees creativity as, "It's not what you do, but how you look at things."

Ruth Richards of Harvard Medical School believes engaging in creative bahaviour makes us more dynamic. Saystheatreperson Amal Allana, "I indulge myself in poetry or just spend time in my garden. If you are creative everyday, it enhances a sense of well-being and happiness too."

2009-12-26T20:15:00.001-08:00

Big industrial cities like Bombay, Calcutta, and Jamshedpur, on the other hand , draw their from wider field.In the jute mill industry of Calcutta more than 80% of the workers belong to Bihar, U.P., Orissa and Andhra Pradesh . In the cotton mill industry in Bombay is not only drawn from the neghbouring districts of Konkan, Ratnagiri, Kolaba and other districts but also from Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Punjab and U.P. Labour in engineering industry at Jamshedpur is drawn from Bihar , Orissa, West-Bengal, Madhya-pradesh, Punjab and Tamil Nadu is now more or less permanently settled at the place of work.

The workers from Punjab, Haryana, Bihar, U.P., and Rajasthan, go to Delhi during the agricultural slack season to work in the textile and engineering industries and also in the building trades. There usually some interstate migration between U.P and Bihar for employment in sugar factories.

2009-12-26T20:14:00.000-08:00

Power Approach Theory: the maximum number of people adopted this theory for the maximum period. Morgenthau and Spykman were the chief supporters of this theory. This theory tries to understand international politics in terms of state interest. Under this approach it is assumed that the interest guides the statesmen more than any other factor. They may talk in terms of philosophy and ideologies but in actual actions, they only act in terms of national interests.

The power approach theory has been the most popular and acceptable. It is criticized because it attaches too much importance to political power. Man is not merely a political animal interested in controlling the action of others. Other factors also determine his action. The supporters of this theory consider the power as an end and fail to realize that it is only a mean. To define national interest in terms of power is also incorrect.

Conclusion: "A study of the various approaches and theories of international relations shows that study of international relations has become increasingly interdisciplinary, behavioral, comparative and scientific. This obviously has been to place the study within a border and more meaningful theoretical framework. And to give it more adequate methodological and conceptual tools."

LABOUR COMMITMENT

2009-12-22T05:21:00.000-08:00

Labour commitment has been defined as "involving both performance and acceptance of the behaviour appropriate to industrial way of life." According to American authors, a committed worker is one "who stays on the job and who has severd his major connection with land. He is a permanent member of the industrial working force, receiving wages and being dependent for making a living on enterprose management which offers him work and directs his activities at the work place. " These authors trace labour commitment to four broad categories, viz.,
(a) the "uncommitted worker", who is only a temporary member of the industrial society and accepts industrial employment to tide over some temporary difficulty and goes bvack to the village after working for a short time;
(b) the "partially committed or semi-committed worker" is one who looks at industrial employment as something permanent but at heart he is a villager and maintains his contact with the village;
(c) the "specficially committed worker", who is permanently attached to particular enterprise and a particular occupation.
(d) The genarally comitted workers is one who has adjusted himself to the industrial way of life, who depends entirely upon industrial employement for his livelihood and does not have any contract with the village.

LABOUR INVESTIIGATION COMMITTE

2009-12-22T05:20:00.004-08:00

SOme recent studies beginning with the labour investigation committe to those conducucted by Prabhu, C.A.Myres, Morris and Lambert have shown that commitment is not lacking in workers in Indian factories as some people think. The degree of Commitment however may not be so high as would be desirable and that is attainable once the industries are able to provide the workers living wage satisfactory conditions of work and security of employement and against risks and hazards of industrial life. Thus there are signs of the growth of a permanent industrial population. Labour drawn from long diatances tends to settle his own cultivation, quarrels the death of title holder down permanantly in towns. This applies both to workers belonging to lower castes and the landless agricultral labourers. They are getting accustomed to urban civilisation. A stabilized labour force is very desirable in the interest of the industry. The conditions in the industrial areas - housing conditions, wages, conditions of working and living and welfare measures and other facilities should be improved so that the causes which compel the worker to go back to the village are held in check. It has been righty said that a stable labour force " connotes loyalty and co - operativeness, acquired skill and practical understanding and has a value which cannot easily be measured in financing terms."

EVIL EFFECTS OF MIGRATION

2009-12-22T05:20:00.003-08:00

These may be analysed as below:
(1) Due to migration the workers finds himself in altogether a different environment in all aspect - closed factories strict discipline strange custom and tradiion different languge uncogenial working conditions defective dietary shortage of living accomodation over croededness to which he is not accustomed.
(2) The health of the workers is subjected to severe strain under new environmental conditions. The climate of the place may be entirely different from which he has accustomed. The change in the diet may also be a change of experience.
(3) Instead of wide wields and open air a worker has to work and live in congested surrondings. There are additional dangers from sickness and disease. They are achanced by the fact that many workers have to live in singly, though married, due to shortage of housing. This creat a sex disparity in the industrial town.
(4) Deprived of happy pleasure of the family life the workers are tempted to indulge in various unhealthy and immoral practices such as drinking, gambling and extra martial sexual relations. There is a rapid spread of venereal diseases first in the city and later in the villages with the return of workers to his home. Besides the sexual immorality plays a large part in family disharmony, lowers down social standards and produces other evils.
(5) The migratory character has also got an adverse effect on industrial organisations and leads to unhealthy growth of trade unions. Since workers come from different areas, speak different languages and belongs to different castes, the leadership cannot be developed from within the rank and file of the worker. The workers constitute a shifting mass with a changing contact and therefore are often prevented from joining trade unions. (6) The frequent absense from work owing to instability of worker places a serious obstacle in the way of establishing contact between the employeres and the employee and of building a sense of co - operation between the two.

BENEFITS OF MIGRATION

2009-12-22T05:20:00.001-08:00

However temporary migrations has got some advatages too, such as:
(1) Most industrial works have been brought up in natural rural surronding. They, therefore usually processa better physique than the city bred workers. They can bear the strain of factory life much betrter.
(2) Where contact is retained with the villae there is usually some kind of home to fall back upon in age of need. The sickness and in maternity in strikes and lock outs in unemployement and old ae, the village home ia a refuge for many and the fact that it exists, affords a sense of security even when it is not required. Thus the village homes provide a shelter when the workers get into difficulties owing to illness, strikes, disability, old age or unemployement.
(3) The life of thecity quickens the minds and enlarges the outlook of a far greater number of labourer, than that it corrupts. The workers bring to the village the wider knowledge and new ideas of freedom and independence which they imbibe in the towns. Consequently many socal reforms in the village becomes possible and the villages are able to liberate themselves from the fetters of custom, prejudices, conservatism etc.

ROYAL COMMISSION ON AGRICULTURE

2009-12-22T05:19:00.001-08:00

Royal Commission on Agriculture summarises the causes of city-ward migration in the following words :
"Emigration has always arisen mainly from the difficulty of finding an adequate livelihood in one's native place, and this is the predominant force which impels the Indian villagers to seek industrial employment. Over large parts of India, the number of persons on the land is much greater than the number to cultivate it and appreciably in excess of the number it can comfortably support. In most areas, pressure on the land has been increasing steadily for a long time and a rise in the general standard of living has made this pressure more acutely felt. These has always been a substantial class of landless labourers earning a meagre living in good seasons and apt to be reduced to penury in bad ones. The loss of land through indebtedness, the need or desire of a landlord to increase his own cultivation, quarrels, the death of title holder and other causes, bring fresh recruits to this class. Among those who retain tenancies, various changes may operate to render a holding insufficient for those dependent on it. An increase in the number of members of the family, a rise in rent, the growth of debt, all contribute to force the agricultural worker to abandon his ancestral occuption.... It must not be supposed that the economic pressure which drives the villager to the city is confined to those engaged in agriculture. The village craftsman, working formerly within an isolated economic unit, finds himself, by the improvement of communications and the growth of industry, subjected to competition from the larger workd. The textile mills have many weavers drawn from families that, for generations previously, worked at handlooms ; the village worker in hides and leather, the carpenter and the blacksmith are all being subjected to pressure from the factory. In many cases the easiest, perhaps the only, way out of the rival which is supplanting him."

WEST INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN INDIA

2009-12-22T05:12:00.000-08:00

Thus unlike the West industrial labour in India has mainly been drawn from amongst the Landless agricultural labourers. The immediate cause of this city-ward migration of the rural people have been:
(1) Increasing pressure of population on land on account of trhe decline of cottage industries;
(2 ) Increasing number of land less agricultural labourers which force the to earn their livelihood elsewhere ;. (3) The ill-treatment of the high caste people towards the scheduled castes and other depressed classes, and the social disabilities from which these later people suffer:
(4) Family quarrels and worries ; and
(5) Indebtedness of the people.
These confirm the views of the Royal commission on Labour that labourers do not come to the cities for its attraction of a better way of life but economic pressures in the village force them to move. The great majority of these workers were at heart villagers as they were brought up in the villages. They had the village traditions and retained contact with the villagers.