Weavers of India
The history of weaving in the Indian sub-continent can be traced back to the Harappa civilization. Weaving culture has been very base to the evolution and major of incidents in the history of the sub-continent. Exclusive designs and aesthetic art of handmade clothes attracted tourists and explorers from all over the world in the 18th century. The Cotton cottage industries of India were symbols of the culture and prosperity of the nation for the most part of modern history. It also became the center of major freedom struggle movements.
Instead of always being on the point where everyone talked about it, the declining trend in the sector always remained unaddressed for most of the time. But the situation is worsening day by day yet now after seventy years of independence. As the pandemic hit it almost seemed like the last nail in the coffin. Once considered as a reputed occupation in society is losing its identity as every passing day. How does the ground reality looks like for the weavers and their community is something I would like to highlight through this article.
A few days back I got an opportunity to visit a weaver collective in the rural setting of the Warangal district of Telangana state. It was a setting on the outskirts of the village. The compound had three structures in total and employed 30–40 weavers from the same villages and villages nearby. They reach the compound by 10 a.m. and work till 5 p.m. Most of the working members have their spouses engaged in the same industry.
The community is working on the revival of the ages-old weaving tradition called Himroo fabric. This is one of the two collectives that work on this tradition, the other one is based in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Himroo fabric is made of silk and cotton and is produced in Aurangabad. Aurangabad still remains the largest manufacturer in Himroo.
The working conditions were quite visible. Some of them worked under the sheds and some worked in the premises outside. Weaving needs minute details and each thread needs to follow the decided pattern for the item to be validated. But isn't it obvious that in this case visibility basic for efficiency? The situation altogether stated a contradictory picture of improper lighting in the pit looming section. One of my friends talked to Amma working on Charkha about how the eyes of weavers are affected and people are able to work properly only for twenty years.
The price of the Himroo fabric in the market is estimated at 1000 Rs. per meter. Ideally, the workers get around 450 Rs. per meter of Himroo fabric made. But the interaction with weavers stated a different story altogether. The amount of money, a weaver gets on per meter of cloth is 30–35 rupees per meter. On average a weaver delivers three to four meters of cloth by working for 7–8 hours per day. Thus the income of weaver varies from 120–140rupees per day. They get the benefit of 200 rupees from the government as support. Working for ten hours in tough conditions for 7–8 hours they consider 4500 rupees as decent income if they are able to make it. India has a minimum wage of at least 176 rupees for laborers.
If the weaving is the four to five steps process and the ideal course the cumulative then also it is far away from the ideal situation. Further, the talks went on for the support they were getting from the government since the cooperative is a government cooperative. The weavers get an additional amount of 200 Rs.per months from the government side which is added to the monthly earning of the weavers. The operations such as procurement and retailing are again done by the person appointed by the government.
Another problem that has remained constant throughout time is health issues. Lack of proper lighting in the workspace affects the eyesight of the weavers. Also, the kind of posture required to work for such a long time tends to result in severe physical problems. Also, the people working on the pit loom does not have adequate sitting and the size of the pit is the same for everyone working there.
There are multiple factors and issues on the broader term such as less bargaining power, access to the positions holding power, and stake in the collective that plays a major role in the changing behavior of the community. Consequently, weavers are leaving their traditional occupation and compromising for daily wages.
The handloom sector is one of the largest occupation generators next to agriculture in India. India manufactures 5% of cloth through the organized sector, 20% through the Handloom sector, 15% through the knitting sector, and 60% of Indian cloth is produced through the decentralized power loom sector. Nearly 23.77 lakh handlooms provide direct or indirect employment to 43.32 lakh weavers and allied workers. 36.33 lakh workers stay in rural areas and 6.98 lakh workers stay in urban areas and 77.90 percent are women. The sector is huge in terms of generating employment. Thus it is quite evident that the degradation is worrisome on both local and national levels.
