6 - Industry: Caste of Labour, Dalits, Industrial Ecosystem, and Environmental Politics

Summary

Machinery and modern civilization are thus indispensable for emancipating man from leading the life of a brute, and for providing him with leisure and making a life of culture possible. A man who condemns machinery and modern civilization simply does not understand their purpose and the ultimate aim which human society must strive to achieve…. A society which does not believe in democracy may be indifferent to machinery and the civilization based upon it.

– B. R. Ambedkar

In our days everything seems pregnant with its contrary. Machinery, gifted with the wonderful power of shortening and fructifying human labour, we behold starving and overworking it. The new-fangled sources of wealth, by some strange weird spell, are turned into sources of want. The victories of art seem bought by the loss of character. At the same pace that mankind masters nature, man seems to become enslaved to other men or to his infamy.

– Karl Marx and Frederick Engels

Ambedkar and Marx expressed the aforementioned sentiments during the nineteenth and eighteenth centuries, respectively. However, even centuries later, these words resonate in the contemporary context of the Indian industrial world. The advent of machines during the Industrial Revolution held the promise of a positive transformation of labour and life on earth. It was seen as a potential solution to the pressing issues faced by Dalit labourers in caste-based occupations and economy. These issues included working in polluted occupations, unsafe working conditions, unhealthy environments, limited opportunities for progress, and degrading work conditions. Nevertheless, the combination of caste-based discrimination and capitalist exploitation of labour and nature has led to a series of conflicting and contradictory situations. The relationship between industries and Dalit labourers, as well as their impact on the environment, has faced intense scrutiny over the past two decades. A comprehensive study conducted on a burgeoning industrial area within the National Capital Region highlights both the challenges and successes experienced by Dalit labourers in their interactions with the realms of industry, caste, and nature.

The Wazirpur industrial area (WIA) in Delhi, capital of India, is choked with small and medium enterprises, spread over a thousand plots.