[VOLUME 5IISSUE 3 I JULY– SEPT 2018]E ISSN 2348 –1269, PRINT ISSN 2349-5138

Present Scenario of the Traditional Brass and Bell Metal Industry of

Khagra, Murshidabad, West Bengal
Deblina Ghosal
Guest Faculty, Department of Geography, Berhampore Girls College, Berhampore,
Murshidabad, West Bengal.
Guest Faculty, Department of Geography, University of Kalyani, Kalyani, Nadia, West Bengal.

Received: May 23, 2018 Accepted: July 15, 2018

ABSTRACT This is an empirical paper that tries to understand the present situation of the Brass and Bell industry
of Khagra, a part of the Berhampore Municipality, located in Murshidabad, West Bengal. Brass and bell industry of
Khagra is reputed nationally for its quality products which is present here since the pre-colonial period. With the waves
of globalisation, like other cottage and small scale industries, this industry is also declining whereas artisans and
workers associated with this industry are the worst affected. This paper has attempted to find out the differences in
socio-economic profiles of the workers and the owners associated with this industry, what are the major factors of
product development, perceptions of the workers and the owners about various aspects of this industry, and lastly to
find out the problems of this industry.
Keywords:Artisans, Bell, Brass, Globalisation.

1. Introduction:
Brass and bell industry, an indigenous and traditional one, has had a glorious past since when civilization
started in our country. Brass and bell industry, a cottage industry in nature and mainly concentrated in the
Central and Eastern part of India, due to the availability of raw materials (zinc, copper, tin) in the plateau
region of Eastern India. In the year of 1944-45 there were 180 factories in Khagra, Murshidabad
(Murshidabad Zilla Gazetteer 2003). The demand of the bell products of Khagra was very high due to their
unique compositions of raw materials i.e. the proportion of copper and tin used to be 7:2 for bell, and for
brass the proportion was 10:4 for copper and zinc respectively. (ibid) Daily usages, religious rituals, gifts,
and sculptures made from this alloy, which has been higher from the ancient past but the demand is
decreasing in present (Chattapadhhayay 2017). Brass and bell industry is found in Assam, West Bengal,
Odisha, and Uttar Pradesh serves local as well as national market. In West Bengal, brass and bell industry
has been located mainly in two regions, i.e. in Bankura and in Murshidabad. Khagra area of Berhampore,
and Kandi, 30 km away from Berhampore (district headquarter of Murshidabad), are the two places in
Murshidabad district, where this industry has been flourishing. In specific, Khagra used to hold a prestigious
position in local and national market for producing excellent bell products, especially dishes. But with time,
in one hand the price of the raw materials of bell products has increased and on the other hand the shop
and factory owners as well as artisans have moved towards others income opportunities excluding brass
products due to losing its long lasting reputation.
The overall trends of cottage industries including this one in India indicate slowdown from the last two or
three decades (Dutta 2002). Brass and metal industry of Assam and Odisha has also been suffering (Deka
2014). Workers and artisans, who were associated with this occupation for long, are now leaving this job for
uncertain better option (Kaltia and Prasad 2016). Kaltia and Prasad (2016) have also, specifically, tried to
unearth how globalisation is affecting brass and metal industry in neo-liberal era in Assam. While talking
about the problems for the decaying of this industry, they have pointed out that information about this
work like i.e. no security benefits and daily non-fixed wages, the problems of availability of raw materials,
non-reckoned middlemen, poor infrastructure, and decreasing demand of these products are also the major
booming handicaps of this traditional industry. Considering these phenomenon into mind, this paper tries
to put some lights on the present condition of the brass and bell industry of Khagra area of Murshidabad
district.
2. Research questions:
Based on literature review and pilot survey done beforehand, two research questions have been identified
as follows:
i. Are there any differences among the owners and the workers in their socio-economic profiles
associated with brass and bell industry in Khagra?
ii. What is the present scenario of brass and bell metal industry in Khagra?
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3. Objectives:
This paper has major four objectives which are as follows:
i. To find out the socio-economic profiles of the shop owners and the workers engaged in the brass
and bell industry in Khagra and its surroundings,
ii. To find out the present scenario of brass and bell metal industry in Khagra.
iii. To analyses the factors associated with these industries and their importance over production.
iv. To find out the problems of this traditional industry in Khagra region.
4. Study area:
Khagra is one of the oldest parts situated in the north-west of Berhampore Municipality. Berhampore,
situated on the left bank of the River Bhagirathi and covering a total area of 31.42 km2, has a rich history
which can be traced to the pre-colonial period and currently is the head quarter of Murshidabad district of
West Bengal. The extension of Berhampore runs from 24˚5′ N to 24˚7′N and 88˚15′ E to 88˚16′E. In 2011, the
total population of Berhampore was 195363 while sex ratio (number of females per 1000 males) stood to
be 945.3 (Census of India, 2011). The literacy rate in Berhampore was 79 per cent (ibid). Berhampore
Municipality has 28 municipal wards among which Khagra area is spread over the Ward Number 3, 4, 5, 6,
7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 19. Brass and bell factories are mainly located in Wards Number 4, 12, 7
while shops are scattered in Ward Number 11, 12, and 14.
5. Data and Methods:
The present study covers only Khagra and its surroundings of Berhampore where brass and bell industry is
located and famous for. This study has mainly used primary data collected through field survey using a semi
structured questionnaire. For field survey, this study has considered both the workers and the shop/factory
owners associated with this industry based on Stratified Random Sampling Method. Total eighty (80) Brass
and Bell metal workers and thirty (30) shop/factory owners have been surveyed, hence the total sample
size (N) is 110.
To full fill the first, second and last objective I have used different descriptive statistics while for the third
objective Kolmogrov-Smirnov test (K-S test) has been employed. The K-S test is widely used statistical
measure in social sciences which helps to validate a hypothesis, hence, for this study K-S Test helps to
understand which factors are important for product development in Khagra. And lastly, discussions on the
perceptions of the workers and owners on various aspects of this industry provide us some insightful
knowledge and avenue about the present situation of this industry and what are the associated problems.
6. Results and Discussions:
6.1. Socio-economic profiles of the Workers:
Among the total 80 workers surveyed, only 19 per cent among them are female, indicating that this industry
is male dominated in nature as it requires lots of physical energy. The age structure of the workers denotes
that the average age of the workers is 40 years while 26 per cent among the total belong to the age cohort
less than 30 years. 19 per cent are within the age cohort of 30-39 years, 32 per cent belong to the age group
40-49 and the rest are of above 50 years age. These figures are the provocative of the fact that the average
age of the workers is quite high and ageing among them is common and nowadays youths are not engaging
themselves in this industry. Only a few are newcomers in this industry, i.e. near about 18 per cent have less
than 5 years of work experiences while 12 per cent have been working in this industry for more than 35
years.
Table 1: Descriptive statistics of the Workers.
Variables Category Frequency Percentage
Male 65 81.25
Sex
Female 15 18.75
<30 21 26.25
30-39 15 18.75
Age
40-49 26 32.5
>50 18 22.5
Educational Less than Secondary 50 62.5

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attainments Up to Secondary 14 17.5
Up to Higher Secondary 9 11.25
Up to Graduation 5 6.25
Up to Post Graduation 2 2.5
PhD/MPhil 0 0
<90 10 12.5
91-180 6 7.5
Daly wages (in Rs.)
181-250 26 32.5
>250 38 47.5
<5000 17 21.25
Monthly Household
5000-9999 43 53.75
Income (In Rs.)
>10000 20 25
Is this industry Yes 52 65
declining? No 28 35
Source: Field Survey, 2017.
While talking about the educational attainment of the workers, this study has found that 62 per cent
workers have not completed 10 years of education while 17 per cent have completed their secondary
education, i.e. up to 10th grade successfully. 11 per cent have completed 12thgrade and only the remaining 8
per cent continued up to higher secondary level. Another interesting fact to look hereupon that none of the
worker has any kind of professional training or technical qualification.
All the workers are daily casual wage labours and 86 per cent among the total are working on other s’
workshops/factories. One out of every eight workers get wage as low as of Rs 90 per day. Near about 33 per
cent gets Rs 181-250 daily while 47 per cent workers get more than Rs 250 per day. Their family income
also follows what they get from this occupation as they are the main earner of their family. 21 per cent
workers’ monthly family income is less than Rs. 5000 hence more than half of the workers’ monthly income
situates in between Rs. 5000-10000, and rest 25 per cent workers’ family monthly income is higher than Rs.
10000. As many of the workers’ daily wages do not support them to run their family in a decent manner,
near about 19 per cent workers among the total have said that are also associated with other subsidiary
works like fishing, binding bidi, and running small businesses.
6.2. Socio-economic condition of the shop/factory owners:
In total, 30 shop/factory owners have been surveyed and found that all the owners are male by sex. Talking
about their age, it can be seen that more than half of the owners’ age (average age of all is 51 years) is
within the age group of 50 to 60 years, even, 10 per cent of the owners’ age is more than 60 years.
Educational attainment of the owners is better than the workers surveyed, which is quite obvious and 30
per cent among the total owners have educational attainment of more than higher secondary. Only 17 per
cent among them have only studied below the secondary level and 40 per cent have completed secondary
education.
Table 2: Descriptive statistics of the Owners.
Variables Category Frequency Percentage
<40 4 13.3
40-50 7 23.3
Age
50-60 16 53.3
>60 3 10
Up to Secondary 5 16.7
Educational Up to Secondary 12 40
attainments Up to Higher Secondary 4 13.3
Graduation or more 9 30

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<10000 7 23.3
10000-20000 8 26.7
Income (in Rs.)
20000-30000 5 16.7
>30000 10 33.3
Is this industry Yes 26 86.7
declining? No 4 13.3
Source: Field Survey, 2017.
Monthly income from this activity for the owners varies up to a great extent as we have considered possible
all types owners from big shop owners to a smaller one. 23 per cent of the owners’ monthly income is less
than Rs. 10000/- while for near about 27 per cent it is Rs. 10000-20000/-. 17 per cent owners enjoy a
monthly income of Rs. 20000-30000/- and the rest, i.e. 33 per cent owners’ monthly income is more than
Rs. 30000/-. When asked, 20 per cent of the owners said that they are also associated with other economic
activities like in the transport sector and running other small businesses. Though, near about half of the
owners have said that they have in this occupation for at least more than 25 years and 40 per cent are in
this occupation for 15 to 25 years. One fifth of the total owners have been thinking about occupation change
as their present occupation is not remunerative enough. 43 per cent of the owners do not have any
employee either in their shop or in factory (Own Account Enterprise), and 33 per cent shop owners have
only one employee.
6.3. Present scenario of the brass and bell metal industry:
Brass and bell industry of Khagra has had a good reputation for the production of quality bell products like
dishes, bowls, daily used utensils, sculptures, and various kinds of products needed for ritual practices
nationally. Though at present only a very few factories are producing bell products and remaining are now
engaged with the production of brass items. This deceleration, as per the workers and the owners, is mainly
due to the increasing price of raw materials followed by the decreasing demand of bell pr oducts. Though,
Kandi, a small town, located beside the River Dwaraka and 30 km away from Berhampore, has maintained
its tradition of producing bell products. Presently, Kandi region supplies the raw materials of bell
production to Khagra region if needed. And on the other hand, brass producers themselves do not produce
brass rather they use to buy brass sheets from different areas of Nadia and Bankura districts.
The main products of the brass nowadays industry in Khagra are utensils, things for daily usages, sculptures
and goods required for ritual practices. A single factory might be engaged in the production of one kind of
product mentioned or might produce more than one kind of product and most of them are engaged in
utensil production followed by the other daily usage productsI have found that 47 per cent and 77 per cent
of the owners respectively, said that the average cost of the products they produce ranges from Rs. 500 -
1000/- and Rs 1000-5000/-. 23 per cent of the owners have said that the average cost of the products they
produce worth more than Rs. 5000/- and only 10 per cent have also said that they produce small things that
do not cost more than Rs. 100/-. 57 per cent shop/factory owners have confirmed that on an average they
produce 10 to 20 products daily while 37 per cent have confirmed that they produce less than 10 products
daily.
In the past, Khagra used to supply bell products, in particular in all over the country; this study finds that
only one among thirty owners has confirmed that still his factory serves national market. Otherwise, all the
owners unanimously have confirmed that presently they have only access to local market and mainly they
use their showrooms (shops) as the demonstration place for the produced products and they think that the
lack of the capital is one of the major problems for this industry. 90 per cent of the total owners have
invested their own capital. Only one owner has invested capital borrowed from bank as loan while two
owners have lent money from their known to invest in this industry.
6.4. Factors responsible for the development of Brass and Bell metal products:
This section tries to answer what are the main affecting factors for the production of brass and bell
products using the standard K-S Test and as mentioned above 14 factors have been considered for this
study. I have considered workers and owners separately, which in addition allows me to capture the tussle
between these two classes along with affecting variables. Each worker was requested to confer his/her
belief that how each factor is affecting brass and bell product development given five categories of
responses beforehand, i.e. strongly agree, agree, no opinion, disagree, and strongly disagree. Depending on
the DMax value obtained using K-S Test against each variable, different hypotheses are accepted or rejected
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for both the workers and the owners. Table 3 shows responses of all the workers on different factors of
product development which have been further used for the K-S Test (shown in Table 4).
Table 3: Reponses of the workers on different factors of product development
Factors of product Responses (Number of workers)
development SA A NO DA SDA Total
Decreasing demand 16 30 0 28 6 80
Lack of Association and
12 26 0 34 8 80
Organisation
High cost of raw materials 51 14 0 14 1 80
Availability of better
31 40 0 8 1 80
substitutes
High price of Brass products 31 30 0 18 1 80
Inadequate Infrastructure 2 35 8 32 3 80
Lack of modern technology 11 23 0 39 7 80
Lack of capital (money)
45 23 0 10 2 80
investment
Poor transport facilities 6 12 0 46 16 80
Lack of proper training
14 13 0 50 3 80
facilities for workers
Inadequate credit facilities 40 17 0 23 0 80
Lack of new investors 42 23 2 10 3 80
Conflicts among workers 4 15 0 27 34 80
Unresponsive attitude of
23 23 1 20 13 80
owner towards workers
Source: Field Survey, 2017. (SA: strongly agree, A: Agree, NO: No Opinion, D: Disagree, and SD: Strongly
Disagree).
Table 4 shows that among the total 14 factors considered, only for three factors, viz. lack of modern
technology, poor transport facilities, and Conflicts among workers, Null Hypothesis has been accepted
indicating significance differences of the ratings among the workers.
Table 4: Factors responsible for product development (Workers)
Table value
Calculated Null
Sl. (95 per cent
Factor value Hypothesis
No. confidence
(DMax) (H0)
level)
1 Decreasing demand 0.175 Rejected
Lake of Association and
2 0.325 Rejected
Organization
3 High cost of raw materials 0.4375 Rejected
4 Availability of better substitutes 0.4875 Rejected
5 High price of Brass products 0.3625 Rejected
6 Inadequate Infrastructure 0.175 Rejected
7 Lack of modern technology 0.1125 Accepted
Lack of capital (money)
8 0.3625 Rejected
investment
9 Poor transport facilities 0.1375 Accepted
Lack of proper training facilities
10 1.36 / √80 = 0.2625 Rejected
for workers
0. 152052662
Inadequate credit facilities for
11 0.3125 Rejected
workers
Lake of new investors for
12 0.4125 Rejected
workers
13 Conflicts among workers 0.1375 Accepted
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Unresponsive attitude of owner
14 0.175 Rejected
towards workers for workers
Source: Field Survey, 2017.
Hence, there is a significant difference of ratings given by the workers of the brass industry of Berhampore
for the other 11 variables.
Like the Table 3 shows the responses of the workers on various factors of product development, Table 5
here articulates the same for the owners. And based on these responses, Table 6 shows the results of K-S
Test for the owners.
Table 5: Reponses of the owners on different factors of product development
Factors SA A No DA SDA Total
Decreasing demand 11 9 0 6 4 30
Lake of Association and Organisation 9 10 0 5 6 30
High cost of raw materials 14 14 0 1 1 30
Availability of better substitutes 13 15 0 1 1 30
High price of Brass products 7 17 0 5 1 30
Inadequate Infrastructure 1 7 0 17 5 30
Lack of modern technology 8 15 0 7 0 30
Lack of capital (money) investment 12 14 0 4 0 30
Poor transport facilities 1 5 0 19 5 30
Lack of proper training facilities for workers 7 11 0 10 2 30
Inadequate credit facilities 21 7 0 2 0 30
Lack of new investors 3 19 0 8 0 30
Conflicts among workers 6 14 0 8 2 30
Unresponsive attitude of owner
towards workers 1 7 0 19 3 30
Source: Field Survey, 2017. (SA: strongly agree, A: Agree, NO: No Opinion, D: Disagree, and SD:
Strongly Disagree).
Like for the workers Table 6 shows the responsible factors of product development told by the owners. In
case of only one variable (lack of proper training facilities for workers), Null Hypothesis (H 0) is accepted
and for all the other variables H0 is rejected.
Table 6: Factors responsible for product development (Owners)
Table value Calculated Null
Sl.
Factor (95 per cent value hypothesis
No.
confidence level) (DMax) (H0)
1 Decreasing demand 0.2667 Rejected
Lake of Association and 0.2333 Rejected
2
Organization
3 High cost of raw materials 0.5333 Rejected
4 Availability of better substitutes 0.5333 Rejected
5 High price of Brass products 0.4 Rejected
6 Inadequate Infrastructure 0.3333 Rejected
7 Lack of modern technology 0.3667 Rejected
Lack of capital (money) 0.4667 Rejected
8
investment
9 Poor transport facilities 0.4 Rejected
Lack of proper training facilities 0.2 Accepted
10
for workers
Inadequate credit facilities for 1.36 / √30 = 0.5333 Rejected
11 0.2483009
workers
12 Lake of new investors for 0.3333 Rejected
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workers
Conflicts among workers for 0.2667 Rejected
13
workers’
Unresponsive attitude of owner 0.3333 Rejected
14
towards workers for workers
Source: Field Survey, 2017.
7. Various aspects of perceptions and problems of the workers and owners related to the brass
and metal industry:
This part of this paper investigates perceptions of the workers and shop/factory owners about this industry
on various aspects. First of all, workers were asked that how much do they like their work. In reply, 64 per
cent workers assured that they ‘like’ their work and 11 per cent said that they ‘love’ their work. Only 16 per
cent workers are not happy about their work. Careful observation here provokes that though three fourth of
the workers surveyed seem happy about their work, but as is discussed in the previous part, they want to
leave this occupation mainly due to economic constraints they do encounter on a daily basis, otherwise,
some sort of belongings are apparent from these above mentioned figures. 65 per cent workers also believe
that presently this industry is declining and losing its prestigious past. On an average, they think that the
number of factories located in Khagra has slipped up to half (presently 45 factories are there, according to
the workers) than it used to be 20 years earlier from now. They were also asked what might the probable
causes for the deceleration of this industry. Perception of the workers about occupational health hazard
confers that 68 per cent workers face health problems like shoulder and waste pain, breathing problems,
cut and wound, and Spondylitis. Another important point to note that in case of any kind of health problems,
60 per cent of the workers prefers to go to private health care system which is also an additional burden to
their livelihood. 90 per cent workers think that the main problem of this industry is created by the shop and
factory owners (contestation among workers and owners) while two third hints toward the disguise labour
problem in this industry as they believe that factories are overburdened with the numbers of workers. On
the other hand half of the workers perceive that lack of capital (money) associated with this industry is also
a problem whereas 57 per cent of them also indicate that the problem of availability and ever increasing
price of raw materials. All the workers unambiguously agreed that neither did they receive any help from
government nor are they aware of any scheme meant for them.
Importantly, one among every three the brass and bell metal workers are thinking to quit this occupation as
the remuneration they get seems to be unsatisfactory for them indicating occupational mobility (forced kind
of here). One fourth of the workers also believe that they will have to migrate to have a new job which is
difficult for them as most them would turn out to be unskilled in that particular kind of new work. Hence,
again, the wage they will get as an unskilled worker might not sound healthy to them. None of the workers
get paid during their ill days as they are purely casual labours and as has been discussed earlier that
occupational health hazards among the brass and bell metal workers are quite common, hence, health
related burdens are also creating difficulties in a regular manner. Factories also remain closed almost half of
the day at the time of scorching summer as production cannot be done then. So these are also the days when
they remain unpaid totally.
While talking about the perceptions of the owners about the brass and bell metal industry, 87 per cent of
the owners think that this industry is declining continuously. On an average, all the owners believe that
before 20 years there were at least 50 factories what has now come down to 35 factories. None of the
owners think that now this industry is remunerative for them now and neither they are aware of any
government scheme for the revival of this industry. Two among every three owners think that the lack of
the falling demand of brass and bell product and demand of higher wages among the workers has negative
impact on this industry. Near about, all the owners think that as the alternative products of brass and bell
metal products are getting cheaper and available over time and this industry is facing steeper competition
than ever before. 77 per cent of the shop owners have also blamed poor marketing system for the decaying
of this industry.
8. Conclusion:
The all above observations in this paper confirm the decaying of this industry and it has been facing
different problems which should be encountered immediately for the revival of this industry. Some
problems are common to both the workers and the owners but there are also few specific problems
associated with the workers and the owners differently. It can be concluded that brass and bell industry in
Khagra is declining and losing its reputation. An overall contestation among the workers and the owners

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also seems apparent as their interest varies which is very common in any production system. Government
should adopt immediate steps like training for the workers, availability of bank loan, and arranging
workshops might be helpful for the rejuvenation of this industry in Khagra.
References:
1. Census of India (2011). Primary Census Abstarct. New Delhi: Census of India.
2. Chattopadhayay, P. K. (2017). History of High Tin Bronze and Brass of Eastern India. Indian Journal of History
of Science , 231-242.
3. Deka, A. (2012). BELL AND BRASS METAL INDUSTRIES IN ASSAM: PRESENT STATUS AND PROSPECTS FOR
DEVELOPMENT IN THE CHANGING MARKET ENVIRONMENT. Guwahati, Assam: PhD Thesis, Gauhati
University.
4. Dutta, S. (2002). Urbanisation and Development of Rural Small Enterprises: Studying the Linkage with Focus
on West Bengal. Economic and Political Weekly , 3181-3189.
5. Kalita, M., & Prosad, P. (2016). Impact of Globalization on Bell Metal Industry of Sarthebari, Barpeta (with
special reference to local artisans). Apeejay-Journal of Management Sciences and Technology , 72-80.
6. Murshidabad Zilla Gazetteer (2003). Berhampore: Shibalik Traders.

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