History CH 4 - Economic Development Social Studies - History CH 4 - Economic Development

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) existed at the international level before the World Trade Organisation came into being. It regulated commerce. In India there were opposed, extreme views about the World Trade Organisation. Yet India decided to take its membership. The provisions of the World Trade Organisation are regarding grants, import-export, foreign investment, agriculture, technology and services. The sectors of electricity, water transportation, education and health rapidly commercialised since India became a member of the World Trade Organisation. As per the various reports of the World Trade Organisation, India has made a considerable improvement in different areas like reduction in the below poverty line (BPL) population, decline in infant mortality, availability of facilities regarding drinking water and waste water management. India signed the South Asian Preferential Trade Agreement (SAPTA) along the lines of the World Trade Organisation. India removed the import restrictions on several commodities for SAARC countries. India also gave discounts on import duties. India opened up the insurance sector to private and foreign investment.
(1).Study the passage and give the full forms of GATT and SAPTA.
(2).Explain, in your own words, the economic policy of “Make in India”.
(3).What do the provisions of the WTO cater to?

Issues of workers: The first textile mill was started in Mumbai on 11th July, 1851 by Kawasjee Dawar. Eventually, mills started in Dadar, Parel, Bhaykhala, Shivdi, Prabhadevi and Worli. This part came to be i known as Girangaon or ‘town of mills’. In the 1980s, the increasing unrest among workers was due to the economic conditions in other sectors. In some industries the wages of the workers were increasing. They were also getting more amounts as bonus. They were getting more facilities than the textile mill workers.
In the Diwali of 1981, the workers expected to get a bonus of 20%. The Rashtriya Mill Mazdoor Sangh, which was negotiating with the employers, agreed upon 8 to 17% bonus without taking the workers into confidence. The cut in the bonus proved to be the cause of unrest. Some workers went to Dr. Datta Samant. They asked him to accept their leadership, Workers of 65 mills came together and Dr. Datta Samant led the strike. On 18th January 1982, two and a half lakh workers went on strike. Girangaon mills stopped running making it seem like Mumbai’s heart topped throbbing.
The Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Barrister A. R. , Antulay set up a committee to solve this issue. Later Babasaheb Bhosale became the Chief Minister of Maharashtra State. He insisted that as per law, he would talk only with the Rashtriya Mill Mazdoor Sangha. Dr. Datta Samant demanded that the law be revoked. In the beginning, the striking workers received help from their native villages. It was also , not very difficult for them to help each other. They set up departmental committees and distributed food grains, assistance in the form of funds, etc. The left parties had supported the strike. As the strike , dragged on, efforts were made to split the striking workers’ ranks. Even as the strike completed 6 months, the central government completely ignored it. The workers started a Jail Bharo Agitation’. In , September 1982, one and a half lakh workers took a march on the Legislative Assembly of Maharashtra State. It didn’t help at all. The strike completed a year. This was the first strike to have gone on for a year. In this period, about one and a half lakh workers became unemployed. As polyester had come into greater demand than cotton cloth, the sale of mill , cloth had already got affected. The mills moved from Mumbai to Surat in Gujarat. The Central government nationalised 13 textile mills. Appointment of i arbitrators did not help to resolve the issue.
(1).Name the worker’s union mentioned in the passage. Why were the workers agitated with it?
(2).State the contribution of Dr. Datta Samant in raising workers issues in Maharashtra?
(3).What is mixed economy?