174 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
electro-technical industries depended on mica for their existence and that mica was strategic material without which defence of the country would be impossible. World production of sheet mica in metric tons in 1913 was 17,018 of which India’s production was 14,598— practically 81.7 per cent. And yet the mica industry had played next to no part in the industrial affairs of India.
He said : “We hear a great deal about the cotton, textile and jute industries but it is seldom that one comes across any reference to India’s mica industry”. Giving reasons for this, Dr. Ambedkar pointed out that there were two sets of causes—first, that mica produced was not consumed in India. Mica was entirely exported and the Indian people, therefore, were unconcerned. Profits were derived from the outside world and the consuming public were not interested in the mica industry. The second set of causes included the ineffective and unorganised state of the industry. He quoted figures to show that the production of sheet mica in India in metric tons had increased from 1,714 in 1905 to 14598 in 1937. Another indication of the industry’s colossal growth was the fact that in the dry season the industry employed
60,000 workers in mines and factories and about 1,00,000 as home splitters. In spite of its enormous growth, he said, there was no big organisation in the mica industry comparable with the Millowners’ Association or the Northern India Employers’ Federation.
Piracy
Giving reasons for this state of affairs, he observed that persons concerned with the industry were torn by the spirit of mutual jealousy and trade rivalries. Each one was trying to build his place at the cost of others. It was a case of all competition and no co-operation. Referring to the future of the industry, the Labour Member said that the Government of India were prepared to do their best to put this industry on a sound and stable footing. The Government realised that there were two problems before the industry, one an immediate problem and the other the ultimate problem involving long-term policy. The immediate problem was the problem of mica piracy. In ordinary circumstances the Government of India would have thought that ordinary law dealing with theft and the receiving of stolen property was sufficient, but having regard to the importance of mica they were anxious to assist the industry