the way of Indian Management. Adhyay 18
When I started thinking as a Manager, and as I started going to the roots of my tradition, I was ina Position to do many things. Often we may think that we are too small and the problem is too big and therefore we cannot do anything. We can only pine for it. Once you start doing things then you can do things small and big both.
The factory of the company I joined in 1964 was situated in Jogeshwari West. In 1964 the entire land of East Jogeshwari was occupied by illegal hutments. Many of my fellow workers were living in the hutments in East Jogeshwari. Before I joined the company, a big dispute had ocurred between the hutment dwellers and hutment owners. The Owners were mostly North Indians and the dwellers were mostly from the Konkan region from which I had also come in 1953. There was a major riot between these two communities in early 1964. All this land was technically owned by the Jamshetjee Jijibhoi Trust. Actual possession was taken over by the Milk stall owners and their employees on the strength of their big sticks. They had constructed unauthorised huts in that area. No electricity, water supply or lavatories existed in that area. Our first shift used to start at seven in the morning and the third shift was getting over at the same time. The Supervisors used to complain about the workers coming earlier than shift timing because there were toilets in the factory and that facility was not available in the hutments. Supervisors had overlooked this human need. I took upon myself to convince the supervisors that though it did create some inconvenience for them the workers’ lack of facilities at home was the cause of the problem. They readily agreed and the problem was
solved.
In 1964 fifty days’ strike of workers for their demands for wage revision was over after humiliating failure for workers and their Union. It had however spawned new leadership amongst the workers. Their excess energy needed to be channelized hence the idea of floating a cooperative credit Society first and then the Housing Cooperative societies were formed. This idea of the defeated union leaders was reciprocated by me positively. This was the proper use of their energy. The company offered some small sums of money as interest-free loan as an initial contribution and on that basis they were in a position to borrow from the government's housing finance corporation. I gave the guarantee of deduction from the company and also the instalment for return of Company loan. On the basis of this assurance 120 people got a roof over their head in a city like Mumbai. It was a great achievement for the workers and matter of satisfaction for me. Not a single rupee of the company was lost in this arrangement. Because of this roof children of many these employees did
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