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The Hindu
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Madurai women staged the first recorded strike in the cotton mills of South India
In the 1860s, Madurai began embracing industrialisation. Weaving industries started flourishing in and around the region. By 1892, the famed Madura Mills, a British-owned cotton spinning mill, was established in the temple town. It began with 1,760 workers, and the number eventually grew to 4,000. About 28 years later, nearly 750 women workers went on a strike against patriarchal practices at the workplace. This strike, from April 14 to June 10, 1920, was the first recorded strike in the cotton mills of South India. Contemporary newspapers described it as an action in defence of women's honour. The Hindu, on April 13, 1920, reported a letter by George Joseph, president of the Madura Labour Union, addressed to the Labour Commissioner. 'The repeated complaints against maistri Guruswami Naidu for obstructing the formation of a women's labour union, bullying women, using objectionable language, and refusing to address their grievances led to the strike,' he wrote. 'Policy violated' In another letter dated April 30, Joseph said the mill's opposition to the formation of a union contravened the policy of the Madras government, which had appointed a Commissioner of Labour to support — and not suppress — labour unions. In some ways, this mirrored the recent crisis at the Samsung India unit near Chennai, where workers demanded the right to form and register their union. According to articles published in The Hindu, there were also attacks on workers attempting to unionise. Requesting protection for the protesters, Joseph wrote, 'The government should interfere and prevent the management from inflicting injury on the labourers and the public by threatening to strangle the labour movement in Madura Mills.' 'The abuses and taunts faced by the women workers at the hands of supervisors and the administration were directly linked to their efforts to form a cangam (organisation),' notes researcher and academic M.V. Shobana Warrier in her work Women, Union, and the Strike Against Sexual Harassment in Colonial Madurai, 1920. She highlights the role of Mrs. George Joseph, wife of a Kerala-based lawyer, who supported the women workers locally. In a letter to the editor of Madras Mail, George Joseph pointed out that the dismissal of over 67 workers by the mill manager, Gillespie, under the pretext of their being 'undesirable', was in fact due to their demand for forming a union. The original demand that prompted the strike was for the dismissal of the offending maistri. In one of its editorials, The Hindu hailed the strike as a pioneering event in Indian history, in which women's rights and workers' rights merged in a collective demand for dignity at workplace. Ms. Warrier states that through their brave action, the women disrupted the dominant narrative in labour history that portrayed female workers as docile and invisible. 'The instance demonstrates how women played an active, assertive, and militant role in trade union activity in the colonial Madras Presidency, even when both trade unionism and nationalist politics were in their infancy,' she argues. The cotton mill industry, which first emerged in Madras and Madurai, grew around regions of cotton cultivation owing to easy access to raw materials and cheap labour. This growth also facilitated the entry of women workers in large numbers. 'The influx of women workers from nearby villages led to reconfiguration of the workplace to accommodate their needs — not due to managerial benevolence, but as a result of grassroots pressure and top-down reform,' Ms. Warrier notes. K. Swaminathan, former general secretary of the South Zone Insurance Employees' Federation and member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Tamil Nadu executive committee, says such a historic labour movement is rare. 'The protest was also to demand a safe and protective workplace. Though we now have Internal Complaints Committees under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, a retrospective understanding of such events could have resulted in better policies,' he adds. Though led by women, the protest intersected with the broader labour rights movement. The formation of the Communist Party and the All India Trade Union Congress in 1920 further strengthened the demand for workers' rights, Ms. Warrier observes. Seamless transition Writings in journals like Stri Dharma — established around 1918 by the Women's Indian Association in Madras — along with direct activism, expanded the engagement with women workers beyond the mill gates. Ms. Warrier argues Madurai district, known for its sungudi (tie-and-dye work), offered women a relatively seamless transition from home-based craft to factory work. As the mills were often established close to their villages, there was no need for dislocation. By the early 20th Century, cotton mills in the region employed a significant number of women and children, as their rudimentary technologies allowed agrarian labourers to transition to mill work without training. 'At its peak, the share of women in the cotton textile industry workforce in the region exceeded one-fourth,' Ms. Warrier records.
Business Standard
2 days ago
- Business
- Business Standard
ESAF Small Finance Bank soars after board clears Rs 735 Cr bad loan sale to ARC
ESAF Small Finance Bank rallied 7.89% to Rs 32.80 after the bank's board approved a major clean-up of its balance sheet by offloading bad loans worth Rs 735.18 crore to an Asset Reconstruction Company (ARC). The loan pool includes Rs 362.43 crore in non-performing assets (NPAs) and Rs 372.75 crore in technically written-off loans. The bank has already made a 90.15% provision against this pool, indicating limited impact on profitability. The board has authorized its Asset Sale Committee of Executives to oversee and complete all procedural formalities related to the transaction. The move is aimed at strengthening the banks asset quality and improving overall operational efficiency. Kerala-based ESAF Small Finance Bank commenced its banking operations in March 2017. It has a network of 787 banking outlets, 1106 customer service centres, 34 institutional business correspondents, 4,405 banking agents, 735 business facilitators and 693 ATMs spread across 26 states and 2 union territories. The bank reported a standalone net loss of Rs 183.19 crore in Q4 FY25 compared with a net profit of Rs 43.35 crore in Q4 FY24. Total income fell 9.99% YoY to Rs 1,036.78 crore in Q4 FY25.
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Business Standard
3 days ago
- Politics
- Business Standard
SC protects Kerala journo booked for defamation of politician on YT video
Taking note of the submissions, the bench said in the event of arrest, the journalist will be released on bail by the trial court upon on a bond and sureties as directed by the judge Press Trust of India New Delhi The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted interim bail to a Kerala-based journalist booked by the police for allegedly publishing a defamatory video against a prominent woman politician on his YouTube channel "Crime Online". A bench comprising Justices Sandeep Mehta and Prasanna B Varale issued notice to the Kerala government and the station house officer of the police station concerned on the anticipatory bail plea of journalist Nandakumar TP. Taking note of the submissions, the bench said in the event of arrest, the journalist will be released on bail by the trial court upon on a bond and sureties as directed by the judge. It also directed the journalist to cooperate with the ongoing investigation. An FIR was lodged against the journalist under the provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for offences of outraging a woman's modesty, intimidation and intent to cause reputational harm, and dissemination of obscene content electronically. He was also booked under Section 67 of the Information Technology Act which penalises publication or transmission of obscene material in electronic form. The state police alleged a YouTube video posted by Nandakumar contained derogatory, sexually coloured, and threatening remarks aimed at humiliating and tarnishing the reputation of the woman leader. The Kerala High Court on June 9 declined to grant Nandakumar anticipatory bail and directed him to surrender before the police. The high court order was challenged in the top court, which posted the plea after six weeks. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Hindu
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
SC grants interim bail to Kerala journalist T.P. Nandakumar booked for defamatory YouTube video against politician
The Supreme Court on Wednesday (June 18, 2025) granted interim bail to a Kerala-based journalist booked by the police for allegedly publishing a defamatory video against a prominent woman politician on his YouTube channel Crime Online. A Bench comprising Justices Sandeep Mehta and Prasanna B. Varale issued notice to the Kerala government and the station house officer of the police station concerned on the anticipatory bail plea of journalist T.P. Nandakumar. Taking note of the submissions, the Bench said in the event of arrest, the journalist will be released on bail by the trial court upon on a bond and sureties as directed by the judge. It also directed the journalist to cooperate with the ongoing investigation. An FIR was lodged against the journalist under the provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for offences of outraging a woman's modesty, intimidation and intent to cause reputational harm, and dissemination of obscene content electronically. He was also booked under Section 67 of the Information Technology Act which penalises publication or transmission of obscene material in electronic form. The Kerala Police alleged that a YouTube video posted by Mr. Nandakumar contained derogatory, sexually coloured, and threatening remarks aimed at humiliating and tarnishing the reputation of the woman leader. The Kerala High Court on June 9 declined to grant Mr. Nandakumar anticipatory bail and directed him to surrender before the police. The High Court order was challenged in the top court, which posted the plea after six weeks.
Time of India
3 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Supreme Court protects Kerala journalist booked for posting defamatory YouTube video against a female politician
The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted interim bail to a Kerala-based journalist booked by the police for allegedly publishing a defamatory video against a prominent woman politician on his YouTube channel "Crime Online". A bench comprising Justices Sandeep Mehta and Prasanna B Varale issued notice to the Kerala government and the station house officer of the police station concerned on the anticipatory bail plea of journalist Nandakumar TP. Taking note of the submissions, the bench said in the event of arrest, the journalist will be released on bail by the trial court upon on a bond and sureties as directed by the judge. Play Video Pause Skip Backward Skip Forward Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 0:00 Loaded : 0% 0:00 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 1x Playback Rate Chapters Chapters Descriptions descriptions off , selected Captions captions settings , opens captions settings dialog captions off , selected Audio Track Picture-in-Picture Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Villa For Sale in Dubai Might Surprise You Villas in Dubai | Search ads Learn More Undo It also directed the journalist to cooperate with the ongoing investigation. An FIR was lodged against the journalist under the provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for offences of outraging a woman's modesty, intimidation and intent to cause reputational harm, and dissemination of obscene content electronically. Live Events He was also booked under Section 67 of the Information Technology Act which penalises publication or transmission of obscene material in electronic form. The state police alleged a YouTube video posted by Nandakumar contained derogatory, sexually coloured, and threatening remarks aimed at humiliating and tarnishing the reputation of the woman leader. The Kerala High Court on June 9 declined to grant Nandakumar anticipatory bail and directed him to surrender before the police. The high court order was challenged in the top court, which posted the plea after six weeks.
