REPROGRAPHY IN INDIA - A STATUS REPORT

Surveys the reprographic facilities available inIndia. The role of lnsdoc and a few other organisa-tions in providing such facilitie s for the benefit ofscience is highlighted. It is pointed out that in somecases lack o£proper advice on the choice of equipmentto suit the exact needs has resulted in inadequate useof even limited facilities. Recent progress in theindigenous production of equipment and materials isalso taken stock of. Some suggestions are made re-garding training of technicians in reprography andstandardization of reprographic matters.

As in several fields of industrial pro-gress and technical advancement, in the fieldof reprography also India is waking up. Untilabout 10 years back there was not even a keenawareness of the potentialities of and the needfor reprographic techniques and applications,in the vast fabric of academic, industrial andecononUc life in the country. Of course, therehave been significant exceptions, where someinstitutions, mostly under governmental aus-pices, have been making extensive use ofreprography. Example s are the Insdoc (IndianNational Scientific Documentation Centre) underthe Council of Scientific 8. Industrial Researchand the National Archives of India, under theMinistry of Education. What follows is arather sketchy history of the development ofreprography in India.

Recent History of Reprography in India

Governmental involvement with repro-graphy has been in connection with the follow-ing activities/departments: Archives, scientificdocumentation, re gistration of title deeds,financial audit, tourist traffic, census opera-tions, public sector industries, etc.

Government or ganisations

One of our earliest government depart-ments to use reprography was the ~Registry of the Government of Bombay (nowthe State Government of Maharashtra, after

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K S NAGARAJAN

Regional (entre. ln s doc,Bangalore·12

the linguistic re -organisation of the States ofIndia) located at Poona. For some decadesnow this department has been concerned withthe photographic reproduction of title deedsand other legal documents vouching for owner-ship and transfer of landed property, buildingsand other real estates within the State ofMaharashtra. This service is somewhatunique, as no other state government in Indiaappears to have set up a regular photographicreproduction service as an adjunct to the de-partment dealing with the registration ofdocuments. An old Photostat machine is stillgoing strong at Poona rendering useful serviceto sellers and buyers of property and litigants.

In some of the states (for example theState of Bihar, at its capital in Patna), theAccountant General's Office has got a photo-graphic facility to provide copie s of officialdocuments and to assist in the records manage-ment in the area of auditing and fiscal controlof governmental expenditure.

Perhaps the oldest organized reprogra-phic set up under the auspices of the Govern-ment of India, is in the National Archives ofIndia, under the Union Ministry of Education.No other organization, governmental or pri-vate, has reached the volume of microfilmingwork that is being handled in the NationalArchives. The National Archives of India hasa continuous programme of micro-recording.This unit with a battery of Recordak camerasand ancillary equipment and a team of trainedtechnicians can look forward to decade s ofuseful service; the National Archive s have yetto put on microfilm a vast portion of the staterecords of this century, particularly a greatbulk of documents that have been createdafter independence.

The Mini stry of Comme rce and Industryhad, until the early 50's, what was called the'Aciininistrative Intelli~ce Room'. This unithad both Photostat and microfilming equipment

195

to provide reprographic facilities rna irrlv to theparent Ministry and also to other governmentdepartments at New Delhi. This unit has sincebeen disbanded with the equipment gettingrelocated, partly with the Photo Litho wing ofthe Government of India Press and partly withthe National Archives.

The Department of Tourism installedaround 1959, diffusion-transfer type of pro-cessors with contact reflex copiers at majorports of entry for copying of tourist cardscontaining data on incoming foreign touriststo India.

Role of Insdoc, New Delhi

It was not until 1952 that an organisedand well equipped reprographic service,accessible to a wide range of clientele, carneto be established as part of the activities ofthe Indian National Scientific DocumentationCentre (Insdoc), Insdoc was set up as an unitunder the Council of Scientific & IndustrialResearch, in New Delhi, with generous assis-tance from UNESCO, under an agreementbetween that international body and the Govern-ment of India. The assistance took the formof gift of a range of reprographic equipment;the services of experts in scientific documen-tation, reprography and translation; and fellow-ships to some of the Indian staff members ofthe Insdoc. This writer was the recipient ofone of the UNESCO fellowships, and he had theopportunity to visit the USAand Europe during1954-55 to study the reprographic techniquesthen prevalent in the advanced countries. Witha team of technicians, many of whom had som~previous experience of technical photographicwork and who were given the proper orienta-tion and training on reprographic techniques,the services of Insdoc gained momentumduring the 1950's.

The equipment obtained from UNESCOcomprised:

Lectra -II microfilming camera,manufactured by Tokyo Micro-PhotoWorks, Japan.

2 Leitz Reprovit -I, made in Germany.

3 Lumoprint - rewind type motorizedfilm developing unit, made inGermany.

4 Microtronics - positive film printer,made in USA.

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5 Copycat, large format vacuum contactprinter, made in UK.

6 Contoura, portable contact printerwith an air cushion, accessory forensuring good contact with smallbound volumes, made in USA.

7 Develop (Dr Eisbein),developing unitfor diffusion transfer materials,made in Germany.

8 Reading devices for micro-records:a) Thomson-Houston brand with

built-in opaque screen, made inFrance.

b) Microvist - portable reader (withcollapsible arms for the projection-mirror), made in Germany.

c) Kangaroo reader, made in France.d) Microcard reader - for reading,

by episcopic projection, opaquemicro-cards, made in USA.

9 Enlarger with point-source lamp bySFMD, made in F:rance.

10 Azoflex K-IO diazi!l"printer, made byIlford Limited, UK.

11 Hunter-Penrose process camera,made in UK, along with infra-redfilm -drying cabinets.

12-14 ~otaprh1:t offset printing machinemade in UK, along with ancillaryequipment for plate -making and plate-exposing.

The above basic equipment has beensupplemented, from time to time, with othergadgets, which include: a Rolleiflex, a LeicaM-3 with a battery of lenses, a secondReprovit unit (Model lIb), a Recordak Micro-film camera model AH-5, Recordak projectionprinter Model B with point-source illumination,an Ilford strip film printer (for making dia-positives of individual diagrams and technicalillustrations) and four more offset printingmachines (one Zetaprinton and three Romayors,all made in Czechoslovakia).

With this array of equipment collected,under one roof, it was possible to renderreprographic services (mainly of scientificdocuments) to the scientific, technical,' engi-neering and medical communities, for thefirst time in India. During the past 15 yearsthe services have grown tremendously. Thougbin the early stages a majority of the clientele

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were from academic and research institutions,in recent tirnes a number of industries andbusiness houses have started making regularuse of the reprographic services of Insdoc ,The bulk of the services comprises furnishingof readable photocopies on paper (hard copies)closely followed by microfilms in strip form.Papers from scientific and technical articlespublished in a plethora of periodicals comprisethe bulk of the requests; patents and standards(national, fo;eign and international) and thesessubmitted for award of higher degrees ofmajor universities in and outside India are alsobeing serviced.

Besides furnishing of cppre s of specificscientific documents demanded by clients,Insdoc also undertakes to produce variouskinds of reprographic versions of documentsbrought in by clients. A few of these may bereprints or the author's copies of originalpapers but a majority of requests are for thereproduction of meta-documents, presentinga wide variety of problems which are challeng-ing to the skill, experience and ingenuity ofthe reprographic personnel.

a) Either magnification or minificationof illustrations to produce dimensionalvariants, are required, mainly forsending along with paper s for publica-tion or inclusion in theses;

.b) production of intermediate mastersfor further reproduction by diazo orother means;

v'c) unitized microfilms of line - and half-tone illustrations and positive trans-par encie s therefrom, meant for pro-jection as visual aids during lectures,seminars and conferences;

d) multiple reproductions either bydiazo or offset-printing of technicalbrochures, instruction manuals orscientific or other data for distribu-tion and dissemination;

e) positive version on 35 mrn film ofcontinuous lenghts of micro-filmnegatives, for use as substitutes forout -of -print back volumes of scientificjournals (e. g. the Journal of the IndianBotanical Society was reproduced byInsdoc to make available, to newsubscribers, through the Society,positive microfilm editions of backvolumes of the journal of that society);

Vol 14 No 4 December 1967

£) special high quality reproductions bycontact printing of high contrastnegatives on lith-type film obtainedon a process camera of complicateddiagrams, having a wealth of detail,for inclusion in bio-medical disser-tations.

The above types of reprographic workgive a broad cross -section of the variety ofwork demanded of and met by Insdoc's ser-vices.

Insdoc Centre, Bangalore

In 1964 a regional offshoot of Insdoc wasset up in collaboration with, and in the campusof the Indian Institute of Science, a 60-year-old premier institution of advanced scientificlearning and research in India. The decisionto establish this Centre was part of a plan toset up three or four such units in differentre gions of the country to supplement the ser-vices being provided from the main centre atNew Delhi. The choice of locations was to beguided by the availability of rich collections ofscientific literature, mainly periodicals,spanning a range of disciplines, languages andcountries of origin as well as the depth orextent of collections going back to severalyears. UNESCO once again provided technicalaid for furnishing the Bangalore Centre ofInsdoc with reprographic equipment. With theexperience gained during more than a decadeof active and useful service at New Delhi it

, was possible to make a choice of reprographicequipment based on recent developments andimprovements in the field.

The equipment at Bangalore includes:,

a) Durst M-35 enlargers (two pieces,made in Italy).

b) Leitz Reprovit, model-lIa (made inGermany). '"

c) Microbox MB2EBW microfilmcameras (two pieces, made inGermany), one piece to be shifted toInsdoc, New Delhi, for use in amobile microfilming unit.

d) Fotoclark Printaphot pneumaticcontact copying apparatus (made inGermany). \

e) Copyclark book copier with diffuai ontransfer developing unit (made inGermany).

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f) Recordak microfil~ reader MPE(two pieces, made in USA).

g) Johnson's Super gl.oas Drye{. made inUK.

h) Autofax electr~fax-type book copier(using zinc oxide coated paper, madeby Toshiba, in Japan).

I) Positive film printer for printing of16/35 mm roUs of microfilms, madein Japan.

j) Lumoprint Zindler rewind type deve-loping unit (two pieces, made inGermany).

k) Pako Rotary print washer (made inUSA)

1) Copyspeed vertical pr oce s's camerawith Xerox attachment.

m) Hunter -Penrose -Littlejohn Offse tPlate -Coating Whirler and 3-wayprinting down frame.

Routine services

With the above complement of equipmentand 3 Romayor pffset printers acquired withinternal resources, reprographic servicescommenced from the third quarter of 1964. Ithas gained considerable momentum during thepast three y.ears. Among the clientele of theBangalore Centre of Insdoc are several indus-trial and academic organizations, not neces-sarily confined to the South. Many of themhave become aware of the richness of the col-lection of scientific literature, spanning a widerange of subjects, readily accessible to thisCentre at its host institution - the IndianInstitute of Science - and other special libra-ries in the Bangalore area.

The offset printing sections at bothDelhi and Bangalore are being used mainly forproducing the internal publications for docu-mentation work namely, the Indian ScienceAbstracts, Annals of Library Science &: Docu-mentation, the series of Union Catalogues ofScientific Periodicals in Indian libraries etc.As a special case, some special publicationsof outside or ganisat ions have been undertakenfor the Indian Institute of Science, the Common-wealth Institute of Biological Control, theRadio Research Committee of the CSIR, theIndian Agricultural Re search Institute, etc.

The reprographic services of Insdoc bothat Delhi and at Bangalore have brought in theirwake an increased realization of the potentiali-ties of reprographic tools, particularly in the

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context of creative scientific writing and publi-cation. Creation of original documents, withdue regard to quality, uniformity and clarityof illustrations with a view to their eventualreproduction (either magnified or minified, inone or two copies or in tens or even hundreds)seems to be done now with greater care anddiligence than before. The advice of Insdoc isoften sought before illustrations are preparedfor conferences, for theses and publications.

Since 1958 the Indian Association ofSpecial Libraries and Information Centres(IASLIC) has been rendering useful servicefrom Calcutta by furnishing microfilms andphotocopie s , especially of material accessibleto them in the various scientific libraries inthe Calcutta area. They make use of the pre-mises and part of the facilities available in thelibrary of the Geological Survey of India. Thegrowth of IASLIC's reprographic services isremarkable. From about 20,000 pages onmicrofilms and 1,300 pages as photocopiessupplied in 1958, the figures for 1966 came toaround 70,000 pages on"microfilm and 3,000pages as photocopy.

Indian Statistical Institute

This Institute, which is also at Calcutta,is very well equipped in its reprographic faci-lities. Having the status of an university, ithas got a remarkable collection of scientificliterature in statistics (pure and applied),mathematics, econometrics and allied disci-plines. ISI also extends reprographic servicesto outside organizations, including Insdoc,though primarily it has been set up to cater tointernal needs. ISI has got microfilming equip-ment, readers for ribbon rnicr ofilrn and sheetmicrofilm (microfiche) as well as for opaquemicrocards. They are reported to haveordered for a Xerox equipment, which is to beinstalled shortly.

Atomic Energy Establishment

Indian contr i.bution to the peaceful use sof atomic energy has gained world-widereputation. The Department of Atomic Ener gyof the Government of India has its rnajor re-search and development facilities in the BhabhaAtomic Research Centre. recently re -namedin honour of Homi J. Bhabha, the illustriousscientist. Mainly to meet the internal demandsfor scientific documents from more than Z, 500

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of their scientists working mostly in theBombay area and also in other centres in thecountry, the BARC has got an excellent arrayof equipment: Xerox 1385 Master-Maker,Xerox 1824 Universal Enlarger Printer,Remington Rand Photo Copier, KodographMicro-print Reader, Recordak MicrofilmReaders, Ross Universal Micro-Reader,Multilith 1250 offset printer and other relatedaccessories. They have planned to instalseveral readers and reader -printers to enableextensive use of microfilms and microfiche as,in these versions, large quantities of currentresearch reports on atomic energy are acquiredfrom various foreign countries, particularlyfrom the USAand through the InternationalAtomic Energy Agency at Vienna.

Some university libraries have equippedthemselves with some basic reprographicequipment, to serve their own research de-partments and also outside parties who demandcopies of scientific material in the collectionsof the libraries in these universities. As anexample, can be cited the MULDOS (MadrasUniversity Library Documentation Service),which has a simple contact printer, an enlargerand a small capacity microfilming camera.Several more universities are in the process ofsetting up reprographic units attached to theirlibraries. Many universities seem to be con-tent now with having just a microfilm reader intheir library.

Special reprographic problems vis-a-visscarcities

Sometimes some special reproductionproblems are brought in to Insdoc. Thoughmany of these are generally of such a naturethat they can be handled with existing facilitiesat Insdoc, the paucity of specialised reprogra-phic materials, due to severe import restric-tir.-" have obliged Insdoc not to be as helpful:0 '{ome clients as we would like to. This is-";pecially distressing since the technical know;.10W and competence are available but lack- ofproper materials is the main problem.

Internal Reprography Services in IndustrialEnterprises

In recent years there has been a growingrecognition of the need to instal reprographicservice systems to aid efficient managementof administrative and technical records inindustrial houses. The advantages that repro-

Vol 14 No 4 December 1967

graphy offers in increasing productivity and byminimizing time, effort and cost of paper workis being slowly recognised; but the awarenessis yet to come to a very large number of poten-tial users and beneficiaries of reprography.This may be due to the absence of a centralnational agency or a society interested in thepopularisation of reprographic techniq~es andin the propagation of news about its Clevelop-ments and its applications, elsewhere.

Even the few industrial unit. that haveinstalled reprographic sections do not seemto have been guided impartially on the properchoice of the systems and equipment. Often,the decision to acquire a specific type of.equipment is taken on the basis of advice ten-dered by an engineer or an executive from.aforeign collaborating industry or on the basisof a recommen.dation by an Indian engineer orexecutive who has (perhaps casually) seen oneof the marvellous reprographic gadgets in aforeign country. This is not to say that theinstallations of reprographic unit. in the fewindustries in India that have them, are allincorrect. On the contrary, such installationshave helped to make more people aware of theadvantages of reprography, even though theeconomic viability of a particular reprograph1cinstallation, or the process and equipmentchosen, may be open to question.

As examples, may be cited:

The Xerox model 1824 installed at theHindustan Machine Tools Factory at Kalama.-sery, Kerala, and the Xerox 1318 unit (basi-cally, a proce ss -camera type of design, builtby Messrs. Hunter-Penrose Littlejohn, ofEngland), with a xerographic adapter, installedat the headquarters factory of the HMT atBangalore. The Xerox 1824 unit is capable oftaking microfilmed records (either as in rollsor as strips or as individual frames mountedin aperture cards) and has the ability toreproduce enlarged versions on ordinarypaper as a xerographic powder image. Thespare capacity of their microfilming andXerox reproduction facilities are a vaj lable tooutside parties, on payment.

One of the important ordnance factoriesengaged in defence production is reportedlygoing in for the installation of one Kontophotequipment (distributed by Agfa -Gevaert IndiaLtd) which is an unique combination of a pro-cess camera, a photostat camera and a micro-

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filming camera. The installation is yet t J becommissioned in this factory, but it if! r: .oectedto meet a wide range of repro graphic require-ments.

The Bharat Heavy Electricals in theirtwo plants at Hyderabad (one for heavy powerequipment and another for switch-gear) arealso installing microfilming and re -enlar gingequipment, and an offset printing unit to meettheir internal needs. A sister unit called theHeavy Electricals Limited at Bhopal also hasa well-equipped internal reprography unit.

The above are only stray examples toindicate the current inte re st evinced by topmanagements of various industries in thepublic sector. In privately-owned industriesalso interest in reprographic systems is evi-dent. For instance, the Tata Iron and SteelCompany at Jamshedpur recently advertisedfor an executive at a fairly high level for themanagement of their repro graphic installation.One of the foreign oil companies is reported tohave acquired a Xerox unit at Bombay orCalcutta. These instances are, however, onlyfew and far between. There are still a verylarge number of industrial units who are eithernot aware or cannot find the financial resourcesto instal their own repro graphic units and toderive the benefit therefrom.

In several cases, particularly ofacademic and research institutions, somereprographic installations have been set upwith foreign aid. In many of these institutionsalso, the lack of proper advice on the choiceof equipment, to suit the exact needs of theorganisations, has resulted in inadequate use(or, even abandonment) of the installation. Themain difficulty in such cases appears to be thecontinual recurring need for sensitive mate-rials, chemicals and spare parts which haveto be imported in the unhelpful climate ofimport restrictions and foreign exchangeshortage. At the time of selecting the equip-ment, adequate attention does not appear tohave been given by many of the Indian execu-tives and their foreign advisers to this point.

The Indian Council of World Affairs atNew Delhi obtained through the Ford (orRockefeller) F'ounda t ion, a Verifax SignetCopier made by Eastman Kodak, U.S.A.; onlyafter installing the unit did the concernedauthorities wake up to the fact that they neededsupplies of the special matrix paper and the

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specially treated, though non-sensitive, imagerecdving paper, for keeping the unit in use.Due to import restrictions it was practicallyimpossible to ensure regular supplies ofthese materials as well as the activator-chemical.

The Indian Agricultural Research Insti-tute' New Delhi, had acquired through one ofthe foreign aid programmes, a 'Filmac -100'reader -printer (made by the 3M Company inU. S.A.). This is a very convenient apparatusfor instant reproduction of readable hardcopies from microfilmed images, which canbe obtained selectively and quickly at thepush of a button. The IARI has managed toobtain a fair ly large supply of rolls of thespecia l paper (having a thin aluminiwn foillaminated to the paper base) as required bythe process of photo-conductography employedin this unit. To ensure a regular supply ofthis special type of material, which is madeonly in the USA, will be a problem.

Availability of Imported ReprographicEquipment and Materials

Until a few years ago even the commonphotographic materials were not produced inIndia and were available only through imports.In the early 1950's, before the import restric-tions were tightened, sporadic imports weremade of microfilming cameras and processingand reading equipment; contact copiers (withdiffusion transfer processing gear), and diazoprinters. Photostat, Statfile, Copycat, Banda,Azoflex etc were some of the brand namesimported from the UK; Duplomat (Dr Boger's),Lwnoprint, Fotoclark (Freidrich Grun), LeitzReprovit and Zeiss Dokumator carne in fromGermany (West and East) and Recordak, Veri-fax, Photostat, 3M and Remington Ra.nd":Transcopy from the USAwere among the ;ef

, brand names that were imported, though 0<.

small scale. Excepting the DTR processorsand contact printers, most of the other unitswere only imported alter firm orders had beensecured by the distributors. Indian marketconditions were not ripe enough for the importof, or dealer in, reprographic hardware togamble on investing capital and on exhibitingexpensive and precision equipment on theslender chance of some future orders. Anumber of commercial firms evinced interestand some of them installed some kind of equip-ment as an office copying device. In manycases again, the choice of equipment cannot be

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said to have been based on full knowledge andenlightened judgement; it was more a credit tothe salesman of a particular importing firm tohave secured the order for a particular pieceof equipment or process, by the buyer.

In the late 1950's when interest in repro-graphy appeared to take on momentum andthere appeared to be a potentially large demandfor reprographic systems in India, the econo-mic ills of the nation compelled the governmentto impose very severe re et r ic ttona on imports.Unfortunately, reprographic equipment andmaterials (along with conventional photogra-phic items) came to be classified amongluxury goods. The quotas of even the big im-porting houses with international affiliations(Kodak Limited, Ilford Limited, Agfa IndiaLimited, Allied Photographics Limited, theScientific Instrutnents Company Limited etc. )were reduced progressively and drastically,within a few years, to 2 1/2 to 510 of what theywere previously importing. This policy even-tually strangled the possibilities of exte ns ionof use of reprogra phic techniques in India.based on imports.

This situation, which still prevails, wasnot without its blessings as in other fields,where imports were not possible. The arti-ficial scarcity conditions have given somestimulus to indigenous design and productionefforts.

Indigenous Production of Equipment forReprography

A quick survey of the field today revtalsthe following bird's eye view. Simple ~printers for document reproduction are beingmade by two or three firms; these do not havevacuum contact facility, but are good enoughfor reflex copying from loose -leaf documentsand thin pamphlets and journals. The principalmanufacturers in this field are - (1) Agfa-Gevaert India Limited, Bombay (and branches),(2) M/a K. B. Industries, Lucknow and (3) M/sH. I. Prince &. Company, Bombay.

There has been a remarkable achieve-ment in the diaz'O field. While dia zo paperswere being ~actured by 4 or 5 firms inthe country, for quite some time (though on asmall scale), diazo printers were not indige-nously produced in India until some 8 or 9years back. With humble beginnings theindustry has made rapid strides, though not

Vol 14 No 4 December 1967

in quantity, but definitely in quality. M/aKilburn 8. Company with headquarter. in

, Ca lcutta are producing a range of stationaryand rotary diazo printers, in technical colla-boration with M/s Hall Harding of UK; M/sDas Reprographics Ltd., also at Calcutta,have recently introduced a range of diazoprinters based on original designs of Mis Van

, der Grinten of Venlo, Netherlands, pioneersin the semi-wet diazo process. Printers,developing units and combination units of theVan de r Grinten types are being made by Dast Reprographics. A sister concern [Da s Zim-mermann &. Co. ) has been producing simplediazo printers and auxiliaries in collaborationwith A. M. Zimmermann &. Ci e , of WestGe rma ny . M/ s Mahomed Ebrahim &. Co. andNuWood Industries (P) Ltd. both at Madras,are making office copiers and plan printers,respectively, for diazography, both lines beingmarketed by Kilburns. Even though both theranges of machines are engineered and fabri-c ated in the country the ultra -violet tube s arestill being imported. The special phosphorsrequired for actinic blue emission are notbeing manufactured in India, though a lot ofdevelopmental work for this has been success-fully completed in some of the research labo-ratories in the country; hence, though theconventional flourescent tubes for domestic I

and public illumination are manufactured in ':the country the special tubes giving the UV-output required for diazo printers are not. ;One factor inhibiting this manufacture may bethe want of adequate demand, to justify massproduction (of this special type) though thetechnological competence may be there.

In the duplicating field, a number ofcheap hectographito duplicators are being n1fldeby small firms. Among the stencil duplica(·orsthe world famous firm of Gestetners are theonly ones manufacturing rotary stencil dupli-cators (both electrical and manual models),in India.

Regarding offset-printing, so far therehas been no indigenous production, thoughsimple printing machinery for letterpressprinting (and textile printing) as well asancillary equipment like paper guillotines,stitching and binding machines are being made.A factory is being set up in the industrial cityof Coimbatore in South India which will shortlymanufacture a range of offset printing machinesin collaboration with the firm of MGD (Meihle,Go s s and Dexter) of USA.

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In collaboration with Pictorial MachineryLtd, the Monotype Corporation of India haveset up a plant in Bangalore for manufacture ofprocesa cameraa, whirlera and vacuum prin-ters (for offset plate-making) retouching andlayout tablea etc. Except the lens and priamall the other parts are made in India.

Shevade's Camera Worka in Belgaum,Mysore State, are making custom-built pro-cess cameras using imported lens and prismelementa.

Only one type of microfilm reader isbeing made in India - the 'OFDUN' - designedand produced by the Ordnance Factory atDehra Dun. An improvement over the Micro-vi8t thia instrument has a lens also deaigned,cut and polished by that factory in India itself,and has a streamlined look with a collapsiblefolding mirror for projection of the magnifiedimage. Demand for microfilm readers hasbeen sporadic and regular manufacture oncommercial scale has not been feasible. Insdochas sought to break this impasse by acquiringa few pieces and hiring them out on rental toinstitutions wanting them.

Materials for Reprography - IndigenousProduction

There have been some attempts in thepast to produce photographic films and papersin India. None of these were organised in abig way; while some were successful initiallythey withered away for want of sufficientencouragement and financial backing.

I must mention here the successful,pioneering efforts made by my friend andformer colleague Dr J. V. Karandikar, toproduce photographic sensitive material undera grant from the Council of Scientific •• Indus-trial Reaearch in the early 1940's. Some ofthese earlier developmental efforts still sur-vive, perhaps under different ownerships.Lantern plates for making diapositives,positive-type emulsion coated on flexibletranslucent base material to provide the socalled -translites" for advertising and publicitypurposes and contact printing papers fall inthis category.

Large scale manufacture of photographicmaterials was first organised in India by theNew India Industries Limited at Bombay intechnical and financial collaboration with Agfa

zoz

Leverkusen, West Germany. Conaequent onthe merger of the two European gill.nta in thephotographic field (Agfa of Germany andGevaert of Belgium) the two former Indiandistributing agencies of the parent firmanamely Agfa India Limited and Allied Photo-graphic Ltd. have merged into Agfa-GevaertIndia Limited and they diatribute, among otherarticles, the producta of the Bombay factory ofNIl. The range of manufacture now coversAgfastat, Copex and Agepe papers meant forreprographic use. The demand is Jrowing andthe ceilings on the import of raw materials donot enable the factory to increase productioosufficiently to meet the entire demand. Thoulhthe product can be aaid to be Indian, verylittle of it ia of purely Indian origin. The baa.paper is imported and so is the aUver nitrate,gelatine and other baaic chemicala.

There is great acope, in India, fordiversification of production. Even in the aU-ver halide system there are such innovationswhich have given tremendous impetus to re-prographic applications: (a) direct positivepaper (based on the Herschel effect); (b) thedeveloper impregnated paper for the stabiUsa-tion proce •• ; (c) diffusion transfer (Copyrapid-type), and soft gelatine transfer (Verifax-type)materials. None of these, nor even the con-ventional paper - either of the low-speed con-tact-printing variety or the high-speed pro-jection-printing variety -- on special light-weight (air mail) base, is manufactured inIndia. They are not available alao throughimport. '

Two other firms who have made a markin producing good quality photoJraphic paperfor reprographic applications deserve mention-they are Adross Private Limited. Calcutta andLibra Photo Industries at Podanur in MadrasState. The efforts of these three (includingNew India) enterprises who have overcomesome initial difficulties and have now estab-lished themselves as producers of dependablequality photo-materials, have to be apprecia-.ted.

The only manufacturer of photoJraphicfilm in' India, on a large scale, is the state-owned Hindustan Photo Films ManufacturingCompany at the lovely hill station of Ootaca-mund in Madras State. This Company was setup in 1959-60 by the Government of India ineollaboration with the French firm of Bauchetand Company (which has recently been taken

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REPROGRAPHYININD~

over by the American giant, 3M Company ofMinnesota). This enterprise has a modernfactory at an altitude of about 2.3 kms. abovesea-level, ensuring a temperate, moderatelycool climate. Power and water are abundantlyavailable, though an artificial water reservoirhad to be designed for the sake of this factory.Only in July 1967, the Prime Minister of India,Srnt, Indira Gandhi formally switched on theplant. The present production is confined topositive and negative film material requiredby the cinema industry. The Indian entertain-ment film industry has, for a long time, beensecond only to the USA in the quantity of filmsproduced and it has recently been pushed tothe third position by Japan.

Next in the order of priority for produc-tion by this factory is X-ray film, both formedical and for industrial use; small quanti tie sof which have already been released in themarket. Films for amateur use and the photo-graphic trade, portrait studios, etc, are yetto be made available by this factory out of itsown production; film manufactur-ed in Francehas been imported, during the past few years,by the HPF, in bulk, the cutting and finishingoperations being done at Ooty before distribu-tion.

Materials specially meant for reprogra-phic use are yet to be produced by this factoryMicr ofiIrri having ext r erne ly fine grain and highresolution as well as high contrast is not be-yond the present capability of this factory, andso is the process f iIrn required by the graphicarts industry, but corrirner cial considerationsappear to have influenced the decision of the

and sta bi u se tnei r ma r'xer lor those items inwhich. quantity -wi se , the demand is heaviest.Very successful development work had beenconcluded in this laboratory, even at the begin-ning of 1965, for the production of X-ray films,colour printing paper and some other specia-Hsed photographic materials.

1f The lion's share of the market for diazopaper, produced indigenously, has been cap-tured by Messrs. Kilburn and Cornpany , Thifirm manufacture s both ammonia and semi -drytypes of paper on opaque base as well as ontranslucent base (Kilburn 'reproduction paper')for further reproduction. With a network ofbranches in major cities providing retail out-looks the firm also has e sta blisned reprogra-phic service centres in these branches. Custo-

Vol 14 N'o 4 December 1967

mers can walk in with their documents and getcopies made (on diazo paper) whilst they wait.Curiously, these service centres also usesilver halide papers to produce copies of opa-que or double -sided originals which cannotbe conveniently copied by the diazo proces ••

The firm of Das Reprographics Pvt. Ltd.also manufacture diazo paper. A number ofsrna Ile r companies also produce similarmaterial. Still, the amazing variety in basethickness, opacity, colour of the final image,etc. , which are available in the foreign brandsmade in France, Germany, Japan, the Nether-lands, U.K. and U.S.A., are yet to be madeavailable to the Indian consumer of diazo.

Materials for duplicating processes

For stencil duplication the wax-coatedstencil sheets are manufac ture d in India,though some ingredients for the coating aresaid to be imported, by Gestetner DuplicatorsPrivate Ltd.

For offset-printing the printing-masters(alurnrni um or paper) are available only thro'l!himpor t s , In recent years, to conserve foreignexchange, the Government of India have con-cluded trade agreements with many of thesocialist countries in Eastern Europe whohave agreed to export a range of items andaccept payment in Indian rupees, in additiortto barter arrangements against Indian exports.This facility has been utilised to import alu-minium foils for offset-printing from Czecho-

,slovakia. In 1966 the Central ElectrochemicalResearch Institute at Karaikudi, Madras State,successfully developed the process of electro-chemical treatment of aluminium foils of suita-ble thickness to obtain a granulated surface fitenough for accepting thin layers of printing inkor water. Commercial exploitation of thisdevelopment has already been licensed and itis hoped that Indian-made offset-printingplate s will be available in 19118.

Recently, there was a minor crisis inthe offset printing and lithographic industry.Desiccated egg albumen, in the form of flakesor granules, required for preparing the sensi-tiser for litho plates was being wholly impor >

ted. Cuts in import quotas and speculativeoperations caused real and artificial scarcities.At the instance of INSDOC, the Central FoodTechnological Research Institute at Mysorehave recently developed a process for manu-

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V"'facturing egg albumen granules. This processwill shortly be licensed for commer'cial pro-duction. Though the above two are very smallaspects in the entire field of materials forreprography, this is m.entioned to indicate thatIndian ingenuity and competence can be countedupon to rise to the occasion when a problemof import substitution is faced squarely andearnestly. With similar impetus it is consi-dered that many of the other materials [orreprography would get progressively manufac-tured within India ,

Both the Monotype Corporation and Best&: Co. are separate ly marketing Indian-made

,arc carbons needed for the U-V light sourcesin reprographic work.

At present there is no production ofeither equipment or materials for the thermaland electrostatic processes, A beginning has,however, been made for development of the"Electrofax" type of electro-photographic mate-rials within India. The Central Electrochemi-cal Research Institute has made certaininteresting experiments with indigenous mate-rials to arrive at suitable compositions for adeveloping powder containing pigmented resin,for use with zinc-oxide -coated papers.

Further developments are anxiously awaited.The Toshiba Autofax machine now at INSDOC,Bangalore, is proposed to be used for the fieldtrials of the developing powder and eventuallyof the zinc -oxide paper which this Iabor atox yhopes to produce through its R &: D efforts.

From the above it can be seen that t:~.ereprographic industry in India is in its infancy.With the increasing tempo of economic deve-Iopme nt , increasing paper work and recordsmanagement problems will require more andvaried use of reprography. There is an enor-mous potential for the consumption of bothequipment and materials as well as reprogra-phic services to industry, business, govern-ment, academic and cultural organisations inthe country.

Training of Technicians and Management inReprography

Insdoc has played a pioneering role inproviding training in reprography of a highstandard. In a one -year long course devotedto documentation and reprography started in1964, the main centre of Insdoc at New Delhi

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has been training batches of information scien-tists. The syllabus in reprography spans theentire gamut of systems, processes, methodsand techniques now perfected and prevalent inIndia as well as in the advanced countries ofthe world.

Occasional intensive courses had beenorganised by the Insdoc to an internationalteam of trainees from south -ea st Asian coun-tries once in 1956-57 and more recently in1963; the trainees came from as far away asEgypt in the West and South Korea in the East,with many from Indonesia. Malaysia, Nepal,Singapore, Thailand, etc.

There is a need for different kinds oftraining courses properly tailored to rneet therequirements of different categories of peopleengaged in repro graphic organisation and ser-vice. There should be one course for techni-cians and operatives, lasting from 9 to 12months, which can give a proper orientationand ensure a thorough grasp of basic principlesof reprographic systems besides giving ade-quate practical training in the operation andmaintenance of reprograpnic equipment andthe proper choice and use of materials. Therecould be another refresher course of shortduration for those who have already gainedsome practical experience in reprographicwork. There could be yet another course formanagers and executives who have to deliverthe goods by proper organisation and manage-ment of reprographic units - whether theseare se rvice or ganisations or set up mainly tomeet internal needs within industries or acade-mic/governmental departments. Such coursesare best planned and organised by a centralnational body devoted to reprographic advance-ment. There is need and scope for an organi-sation in India to function on the lines of theInstitute of Reprogra phic Technology, London,or the Society of Reproduction Engineers,U. S.A., and similar bodies elsewhere. Sup-port from both government and industry willbe needed, in terms much deeper than merernor al support and encour agement ,

Standardization of Reprographic MatterlJ

The Indian Standards Institution. thenational body responsible for standards in Indiahas given attention to the establishrnent of thenecessary standards and recommended prac-

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REPROGRAPHY IN INDIA

tices in certain aspects of reprography. Formore than a decade a sub-committee with codenumber ECZ:Z has been fairly active in thesematters. under the Documentation SectionalCommittee of the ISI. Besides commenting onthe draft recommendations proposed forapproval by the International Standards Orga-nization. this committee alao has been pursuingthe drafting of standards for use within thecountry. Standard codes of practices have beeDdrafted. studied, commented upon and finallyapproved on the following topics:

1. Storage and use of microfilms ofpermanent value (IS:3130 - 1965)

Z. Processing of microfilm.

Work is in progress concerning a codeon the avoidance of damage to microfilms andanother on the quality aspects of microfilm.More standardisation work will be pursuedwhen the range. variety and quantity of equip-ment and/or materials for reprography pro-duced in India increase in the future. Dueregard has to be paid to the climatic conditionsas well as technoeconomic levels of living andorganizational practices in the country, whiledevising either quantitative or qualitative stan-dards in the field of reprography. No doubt asfar as possible conformity with the high levelsof standards already existing in the field insome countries has to be aimed at, makingdepartures only when the conditions peculiarto the country warrant. There is scope forassociating a greater variety of people (havingtechnical and scientific expertise in the design,development, production as well as use ofreprographic systems) in the standardizationactivities of the ISI in this field.

Conclusion

The description given above gives a moreor less correct picture, though not very exhaus-tive and perhaps accurate, of the state of re-prography in India. The imperative need atpresent is for steps to be taken in the followingdirections:

A national organization has to be formedfor the promotion of reprographic activitiesand propagation of current knowledge regardingdevelopments and its applications in this fast-developing vast field, to potential users in thecountry.

A more intensive effort has to be madeto catalyse developmental work in the indige-

Vol 14 No 4 December 1967

nous production of reprographic equipment andmaterials. The available attempts that havebeen made so far, though successful. coveronly a few stray aspects of reprography. Indi-genous know-how has been (or is being) deve-loped. without any foreign collaboration. onlyin such areas as aluminium foils for offset-printing; egg albumen for sensitizing aluminiumfoils, tribo-electric. pigmented resinous pow-der complex for developing 'Electrofax' paperetc. It is feasible to successfully develop someof the more sophisticated equipment and mate-rials for reprography within India. like stabi-lization and diffusion transfer processors.diazo coated film. 'Electrofax' - type copiesetc. There is sufficient engineering andscientific talent of proper calibre is available.What is needed is the impetus and perhaps anincentive for such developmental work. Theimportance of reprographic systems. as oneof the essential labour -saving and economisingdevices in all walks of national activity, has tobe brought home to people who matter.

Attention has to be patdt o establishing apermanent machinery (and an advisory bodyfor it) for running regular and continual train-ing programme s in reprography at variouslevels.

A central advisory body composed ofexperienced people should be set up for thescreening and clearance of proposals for esta-blishment of reprographic units in industries,busine sshouse s , governme nt departments,research laboratories, universities, etc. forthe whole country. This will help to minimise,if not complete ly to eliminate, the somewhatchaotic conditions prevailing at pre sent where-in one often finds ill-advised choice of equip-ment, not being fully utilised or, in somecases, systems are set up with equipment notadequately suited to the requirements, or forwhich materials and spares cannot be obtainedeasily in India.

In view of its achievement in the econo-mic progre ss & nation building activitie s , Indiahas already assumed a leading role, in manyfields, among the developing nations. It hasto take the initiative in establishing interna-tional co-operation in reprography, particu-larly among the developing countries. Suchco-operation can take the form of combinedactivities in training programmes, researchand development work and judicious adoptingand adaptation of sophisticated systems thathave been established in the more advancedcountries.

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