CBSE Class 10 Answered

Condition of Workers: During the period of industrialisation, there was abundance of labour in the market. Therefore, as soon as the news of possible jobs surfaced, hundreds of them tramped to the cities. However, the possibility of them getting the jobs depended on the contacts that they had (whether a friend or a relative) and resulted in them waiting for weeks, spending numerous nights under the bridges or in night shelters or in casual wards. Also, seasonal nature of jobs forced the workers to move to countryside where the demand for labour was high. But some stayed back to do odd jobs.

Moreover, when the prices rose during the Napoleon wars the value of income of workers fell drastically resulting in 10% percent of the urban population being extremely poor.

Conditions of Weavers: After establishing political power, East India Company developed a system of management that controlled and eliminated competition of cotton and silk goods that affected the weavers tremendously.

Firstly, it eliminated the existing traders and brokers that were connected with the cloth trade and tried to establish a more direct control over it by appointing a paid servant. Secondly, it stopped the weavers from dealing with other buyers which resulted in weavers only trading with the company.

Though at first it helped weavers in earning handsomely, later on various clashes & difference surfaced between the weavers and the paid servant. These circumstances made the weavers lose the space to bargain for prices and sell to different buyers, the price received from the company was miserably low and they were tied to the company because of the loans they had taken.

This situation resulted in the weavers deserting their own villages and overtime shifting their profession to agricultural labour.