Indian Industry and Ethnicity:1 A Study of Two Organizations in Mumbai

With the process of globalization becoming all pervasive, mobilization on the basis of class seems to not only recede but is also being replaced by ethnicity. It was thus decided to conduct a study to look into this phenomenon. The study was conducted in Mumbai: one unit from the traditional sector and the other from a more recently established industry—a chemical—factory were chosen. In-depth interviews were carried out over a period of seven months with 163 employees in two units. The findings reveal that the competing groups in Mumbai Port Trust (MBPT) were the Maharashtrians on one hand, and the migrants from other states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu on the other. The Maharashtrians cornered the better jobs in MBPT and the 'dirty' jobs were left for the migrants. The issue of reservation also figured prominently during the interviews, especially amongst the MBPT workers. As compared to the MBPT workers, the Company C workers were more educated and urban in orientation. The issue of the sons of the soil was a noticeable problem as the Company C stood on the land once owned by the agri community in the Thane-Belapur belt. This led to a clash between the locals (agri community called gaonwallas) and the outsiders who came to work from the city. There was no transparency in the promotion policy, leading the workers to believe that the person to be promoted was first identified and qualifications then fixed.