Calcutta's Lonely Crowd. S N Sen. COMPARED to many of the great cities of the
world and, indeed, of. India, Calcutta is a place of com- paratively recent growth ...
Calcutta's Lonely Crowd S N Sen C O M P A R E D t o m a n y o f the great cities of the w o r l d and, indeed, of I n d i a , Calcutta is a place of comparatively recent growth, Like B o m b a y a n d Madras, its sisters in I n d i a , it was founded by B r i t i s h merchants turned administrators, a n d the city of Job C h a r n o k grew steadily in importance as the gatew a y of i n t e r regional a n d intern a t i o n a l trade. I t s status as the capital city of the country t i l l the year 1912 and its position as the centre of a large i n d u s t r i a l area have always attracted a steady f l o w o f m i g r a n t s , most o f whom stayed in the c i t y a n d were slowly submerged in the stream of its c u l t u r a l a n d economic life. The result has been the heterogeneity and a n o n y m i t y of life in the c i t y . The c i t y provides good m a t e r i a l for the social scientist, but u n f o r t u n a t e l y data on the different socio-economic aspects of life of the people of the c i t y have not been systematically collected at any t i m e . The decennial census published some i n f o r m a t i o n s r e l a t i n g to the size and d i s t r i b u t i o n of the populat i o n of the c i t y and of its livelihood p a t t e r n . W h i l e these are no doubt i m p o r t a n t , they provide an inadequate basis f o r finding out the social and economic factors influencing the life of the people of the city. However, f r o m 1954, the t w o Departments of the Calcutta U n i versity, Economics a n d Statistics, have been engaged in c a r r y i n g out a systematic survey of certain aspects of the social and economic conditions of the people l i v i n g in this city, aided by a v e r y generous granl-in-aid from the Research Programmes Committee of the P l a n n i n g Commission. The materials for this paper have been collected f r o m t h a t survey.
Men and Women It is well k n o w n t h a t most of the cities of I n d i a contain a predomin a n t l y male population. A c c o r d i n g to the 1951 census, the overall r a t i o for cities c o n t a i n i n g one l a k h or more population was 785 w o m e n per 1000 men. (The a l l - I n d i a r a t i o was 948). The p r o p o r t i o n of women in the live " m i l l i o n a i r e " cities of B o m b a y , Calcutta, D e l h i , H y d e r a bad and M a d r a s was s t i l l lower, being o n l y 693 per 1000 m e n . The
state wise d i s t r i b u t i o n showed that the male-female r a t i o is lowest in West Bengal cities, being o n l y 600, w h i l e the p r o p o r t i o n is i n v a r i a b l y h i g h in the cities of South I n d i a . In fact, there were in 1951 four cities i n I n d i a w h i c h contained more w o m e n t h a n men in their population, a n d they were a l l to be found i n South I n d i a . A m o n g the 75 cities of I n d i a , C a l c u t t a contains the lowest p r o p o r t i o n of w o m e n in its population. Thus it can l e g i t i m a t e l y c l a i m to be the most male city in I n d i a , a n d most probably in the whole w o r l d . T h i s male-female d i s p a r i t y is usually ascribed to the special character o f m i g r a t i o n t o this city. A b o u t 45 per cent of Calcutta's population are m i g r a n t s , i e, those who came to this c i t y after 1935. a n d a m o n g these m i g r a n t s barely 13 are women. B u t most of the refugees f r o m East Bengal have come to the c i t y w i t h a l l t h e i r w o m e n f o l k a n d the sex r a t i o a m o n g t h e m is as h i g h as 856 per 1000 men. These people, however, f o r m o n l y 29 per cent of the m i g r a n t s a n d about 1.1 per cent of the population of the city. The proportion is also high a m o n g the o r i g i n a l residents, being 755 women per thou sand men. This is, however, difficult to explain; for one would expect t h a t the men-women r a t i o a m o n g the o r i g i n a l residents of the c i t y should be more even and w o u l d be equal to the a l l - I n d i a figure. T h i s is, however, nearly equal to the average male-female r a t i o of the I n d i a n cities. There is, however, no doubt t h a t a m o n g the other m i g r a n t s (i e, other t h a n displaced persons), the r a t i o is as l o w as 295 w o m e n per thousand men. The existence of such a h i g h male-female d i s p a r i t y among the other m i g r a n t s has brought d o w n the proportion of women i n the city's population. W h y is it t h a t , as compared to a l l other cities i n c l u d i n g B o m b a y , o n l y a smaller p r o p o r t i o n of the m i g r a n t s to Calcutta have b r o u g h t t h e i r families to the c i t y ? Such factors as had housing conditions or the forces of custom a n d cons e r v a t i s m etc are equally present i n the ease o f a l l cities i n I n d i a , a n d there is no apparent reason 382
for assuming that housing conditions are worse in C a l c u t t a than (say) B o m b a y o r K a n p u r ; o r t h a t the s p i r i t of conservatism is more prevalent a m o n g the m i g r a n t families residing in the hinterland which supplies a steady flow of men to C a l c u t t a t h a n is to be found i n and a r o u n d Bombay or any other u r b a n area in I n d i a . H o w , then, does one account for the fact that the r a t i o of w o m e n to men is the lowest in the case of m i g r a n t s f r o m Orissa (about 143 w o m e n per 1000 men,) w h i l e it is higher a m o n g the Hindi-speaking migrants 331 w o m e n per 1000 men)? The r a t i o is s t i l l higher a m o n g the U r d u - s p e a k i n g m i g r a n t s 452 women per 1000 m e n ) . H o w can one explain such c o m m u n i t y wise male-female disparity in migration? Certainly the people f r o m Orissa are not more conservative, nor do they suffer f r o m housing difficulties more severely t h a n the m i g r a n t s f r o m (say) Bihar. To some extent the flow of m i g r a n t families may be dependent on the incomes earned by the migrants in the c i t y T h i s is shown by the fact that the r a t i o of women to men is m u c h higher (688) a m o n g Gujaratis, M a r w a r i s , Sindhis and other communities generally belong i n g to the h i g h income groups. B u t there is no evidence to show that the average income of the Oriya-speaking population is signif i c a n t l y lower t h a n t h a t of the H i n d i - o r - U r d u speaking population. T h i s is c e r t a i n l y a m a t t e r f o r further sociological study, a n d w o u l d probably t h r o w more l i g h t on the causes of m i g r a t i o n to the c i t y .
Single Member Households The fact t h a t w o m e n f o r m a comparatively smaller p r o p o r t i o n o f the population is responsible f o r the most i m p o r t a n t characteristic of social life of the c i t y : the disproportionately large number o f single-member households. A c c o r d i n g t o the Gokhale I n s t i t u t e Survey, people l i v i n g s i n g l y f o r m e d about 10 per cent of the t o t a l n u m ber o f households i n Poona. I n Baroda, the p r o p o r t i o n of such households is o n l y 11 per cent. In Calcutta,, the r a t i o is more t h a n live times t h a t figure a n d such people
THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY constitute about one fifth or the c i t y' s population. Differences i n the i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f the w o r d , "household'' and possibly some investigator-bias may have h a d the effect of inflating this figure. B u t even after making allowance f o r these factors, there is no doubt t h a t the p r o p o r t i o n of such households is quite large in the sample population of C a l c u t t a , m u c h larger t h a n is to be found in other I n d i a n cities, m a j o r or m i n o r . The vast m a j o r i t y of these single member households, i e, more t h a n 95 per cent, consists of male m e m bers l i v i n g without, the comforts or the restraints of f a m i l y life. O n l y about 5 per cent of these households consists of women, most of whom are engaged in domestic service or in p r o s t i t u t i o n . Obviously, almost a l l of t h e m are adults, ( i f we exclude the students w h o f o r m a very s m a l l part of this populat i o n ) , a n d about three-quarters of t h e m are m i g r a n t s to the city. It is, however, i n t e r e s t i n g to note t h a t the displaced m i g r a n t s . w h o are popularly called refugees, f o r m less t h a n 3 per cent of the t o t a l number of single households. A b o u t 73 per cent of these are non-refugee m i g r a n t s . M o r e t h a n 61 per cent of these other m i g r a n t s lives alone A m o n g the o r i g i n a l residents about 15 per cent live in single-member households and more t h a n 70 per cent of the single women belong to this category. The existence of such high proportion of single-member households a m o n g o r i g i n a l residents of the c i t y is a distressing fact, a n d one for w h i c h it is not easy to find an explanation. The d a t a classify a l l persons w h o have come to the c i t y after 1935 as m i g r a n t s , so t h a t those w h o m i g r a t e d to the c i t y in 1934 or earlier have been regarded for purposes of the survey as o r i g i n a l residents. It m a y be t h a t a p r o p o r t i o n of those w h o m i g r a t e d to the c i t y before 1935 have not b r o u g h t t h e i r families to live w i t h them. B u t i t i s doubtful w h e t h e r the percentage of such i n d i v i d u a l s w o u l d be large enough to provide a sufficient explanation f o r single member households a m o n g the o r i g i n a l residents of the c i t y . A b r e a k d o w n of the single i n d i v i duals w h o were o r i g i n a l residents showed t h a t 61 per cent of t h e m were non-Bengalis, a n d this pro p o r t i o n w a s definitely m u c h higher t h a n t h a t e x i s t i n g b o t h i n the t o t a l p o p u l a t i o n a n d a m o n g the o r i g i n a l
February 21 1959 residents of the c i t y , Thus a large percentage of the H i n d i - U r d u a n d Oriya-speaking people s t i l l prefer to live a single life in the city, t h o u g h they have been in C a l c u t t a for at least 20 years.
Low Earnings These people f o r m the poorest section of the city's population. A b o u t 17 per cent of t h e m earn Rs 80 or less per m o n t h , w h i l e 71 per cent are receiving sums v a r y i n g between Rs 31 and Rs 100 per m o n t h . Thus w h i l e 88 per cent of these earners earn on average about Rs 60 per m o n t h , the p r o p o r t i o n is o n l y 50 per cent a m o n g other earners. Most of these single earners have to send regular r e m i t t a n ces to their dependents left behind in their native places. T h i s w i l l also be evident f r o m a study of the employment pattern of these single earners and of the others. More t h a n 46 per cent of the single earners were found employed as unskilled manual workers, e a r n i n g the lowest rates of pay as against only 20 per cent of the other earners. A b o u t 6,5 per cent of the single earners are employed in various types of clerical jobs, technical or non-technical, whereas the p r o p o r t i o n is about three times t h a t figure a m o n g other earners. They f o r m o n l y 18 per cent of the men w h o are engaged in various professional a n d technical occupations, c a r r y i n g compar a t i v e l y higher salaries or incomes. T h u s more t h a n 8ft per cent of these single earners are found either in u n s k i l l e d m a n u a l jobs (domestic servants, factory w o r k e r s ) , in lowpaid semi-skilled occupations, or in petty t r a d i n g (street hawkers, etc). T h e housing conditions in w h i c h the large m a j o r i t y of these single households exist are shocking. 83 per cent of these individuals do not have a r o o m of t h e i r o w n a n d there l o r e have no privacy. They live on pavements, on roofs or beneath stairs, or are huddled together in disg u s t i n g bustees, s h a r i n g the same l a t r i n e , b a t h a n d w a t e r t a p ( i f these exist) w i t h 50 or 100 or even more people. Those, who, a m o n g them, receive a l i t t l e more money stay in the cheapest b o a r d i n g houses, sever a l members to a room about 12 ft by 14 ft in size. Thus f r o m a l l points of view,— levels of income, employment patt e r n a n d housing, these people represent the submerged section of the 283
city's population. T h e y constitute Calcutta's lonely crowd,—adults w h o have been deprived by the force of circumstances of the joys a n d comforts of a f a m i l y life. Contact w i t h u r b a n ideas and l i v i n g conditions has corroded the values w h i c h g u i d ed them, when they lived in villages or s m a l l towns. They suffer f r o m insecurity and are profoundly u n happy.
The Town-dweller and His Village There is no doubt t h a t , to a large extent, most of these people exhibit in their culture and in their w a y of life the characteristics of a t r a n s i t i o n a l group something m i d w a y between a t y p i c a l dweller of the r u r a l areas and a pure u r b a n resident. This is p a r t l y because m a n y of t h e m keep in contact w i t h their village. Of every 100 residents of the city, at least 45 visit t h e i r native place at least once a year. This, of course, does not apply so m u c h to people f r o m East P a k i s t a n . B u t at least one-third of the o r i g i n a l residents go to their village once or more often in course of the year. Contact w i t h the villages has no doubt its beneficial aspects, as the R o y a l Commission on L a b o u r pointed out l o n g ago. The village home is a refuge and security in sickness a n d in m a t e r n i t y , in strikes and lockouts, in unemployment and old age. The r u r a l areas also benefit considerably. Money earned in the city has been invested in the villages in b u y i n g cattle or a g r i c u l t u r a l implements. A g r i c u l t u r a l income, it is w e l l - k n o w n , is .subject to large variations from year to year. Remittances f r o m the c i t y sent by the m i g r a n t s have surely been a welcome addition to the f a m i l y income. I n this a n d m a n y other ways, retention of contact w i t h the villages by the m i g r a n t s has in a large measure resulted in stabilisi n g a n d even i m p r o v i n g the standa r d of l i v i n g and a g r i c u l t u r a l prod u c t i v i t y in the villages. Hut, at the same time, t h i s fact retards and often prevents the assimilation of the resident in the social and cult u r a l life of the city. Moreover, the post-1947 a b n o r m a l conditions have disturbed this g r a d u a l process of the conversion of a r u r a l m i g r a n t into a full-scale u r b a n dweller The flow of refugees f r o m the East in these years has been too rapid and too large for the city to absorb and assimilate, both c u l t u r a l l y and economically.
February 21 1959 T h e fact t h a t n e a r l y one-fifth o f the city's population lives a lonely life lies at the root of the social a n d political i n s t a b i l i t y for w h i c h C a l c u t t a has earned a good deal of notoriety. M o s t of these people do not feel that they have a stake in the city, t h o u g h they have been l i v i n g here for m a n y years. At. heart they are not city dwellers, but o n l y t e m p o r a r y residents. L a c k i n g the c o m f o r t s a n d restraints of fam i l y life a n d often forced to live in miserable surroundings, these lonely c i t y dwellers are subjected to serious psychological strains, are undisciplined, a n d become m o r a l l y unstable. Consequently there is a higher rate of absenteeism, greater listlessness a t w o r k , a n d lowered p r o d u c t i v i t y . T h i s is also one of the principal
causes of the prevalence of prosti t u t i o n and other f o r m s o f social disease a n d c r i m e in the c i t y .
Further Study Needed T h i s raises a problem to w h i c h no ready answer is possible. It is in the interest of the city t h a t these people should be assimilated i n t o its c u l t u r a l and economic life. B u t , quite apart f r o m other aspects, the conversion of single-member households i n t o m u l t i - m e m b e r u n i t s w i t h families a n d c h i l d r e n b r o u g h t to the city, w o u l d create insoluble problems of housing, w a t e r supply, t r a n s p o r t , public h e a l t h a n d educat i o n . The i n d u s t r i a l i s t m i g h t t h i n k t h a t this w o u l d stop the flow of u r b a n savings t o r u r a l investment and so m a k e l a r g e r funds available f o r i n d u s t r i a l development i n a n d
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a r o u n d the u r b a n areas. Even if i t happens, i t w o u l d , however, ret a r d agricultural improvement, and t h i s i n t u r n w o u l d u l t i m a t e l y affect the g r o w t h o f industries. One m a y , moreover, doubt w h e t h e r such savings, w h i c h are now made under the i m p e r a t i v e necessity of s u p p o r t i n g a f a m i l y at home, w o u l d a c t u a l l y he available i n the changed c l i m a t e o f the c i t y w h e n the whole f a m i l y would acquire urban spending habits; to say n o t h i n g of the h i g h cost of l i v i n g in the city. There are m a n y other sociological problems involved, and i t w o u l d require the cooperation of the different social sciences before one w o u l d be in a position to suggest a solution to t h i s problem, w h i c h threatens the stabil i t y of life in the city.
