Comments - Latest Popular Stories, Instablogs Community by Abdullah

Prabhunarayan

Prabhunarayan — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0000

This has become a real challenge for India where the rich is becoming richer and the poor is becoming poorer. This gap is constantly increasing and the govt seems to favor the rich, as usual, to gain votes. Seriously, this country is hopeless.

Abdullah Khan

Abdullah Khan — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Undoubtedly, there is a huge difference between rich and poor,But why? Who is to blame? What can we do about it? Many things have been tried out to solve these problems, but does it work?

It seems bizarre that our modern and intelligent economist have not yet succeeded to get rid of the difference between rich and poor.

Sanwali

Sanwali — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Govt should set up some factories and provide these weavers with the raw material and a certain fixed amount of money on each piece made by them...and directly sell that in the market.

Middlemen are merely making their own profits.

Chintan

Chintan — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Great idea, but this will give rise to another problem Sanwali...Middlemen will go to a strike immediately the govt announce this. They’ll not let the govt kick them out so easily.

Abdullah Khan

Abdullah Khan — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Sanwali You have put forward a good idea.Most important is to create a market for handlooms. Unless people are persuaded to buy them, they may prefer the mass produced stuff.

Kalyani Rampilla

Kalyani Rampilla — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Dear Abdullah,

Yes, the plight of weavers and all other indigenous artisans in our country is very bad. Earlier, there was no dearth of patrons who encouraged these artisans to let loose their creativity and hence the skills were passed on through generations. But, now our own people do not care to use these traditionally made products. They are lured by the hype and glare of various brands and their products. Not just youngsters, but even elders, prefer wearing clothes that are made of synthetic fibre and machine made. They do not care whether the cloth is suitable for our climate. They have the money courtesy the MNCs - now even that is in the docks - with the current recession.

Our weavers can be helped to revive their skills and our traditions by using our traditonal cloth designed as modern apparel. We have an evergrowing number of designers - they can use their creativity to make use of the handwoven material for everyday use.

The raw material - cotton - is also a critical cause for concern. The low and declining yield of this crop has driven many farmers to suicide. Research and various studies have pointed to the new variety of seeds as the culprit. These seeds have been marketed by global firms. The farmers cannot use the harvest as seed for the next crop. He is forced to buy the seed fresh for every crop cycle. This is creating an unnecesary burden, for which he has to borrow loans and thus is ensnared into the vicious debt trap.

Normal traditional mode of farming would have been sustainable. If only we can get back to that method with necessary inputs and interventions by the government, these people can be helped from further deterioration.

Kalyani

Abdullah Khan

Abdullah Khan — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Dear Kalyani,

Very good observations..thanx..

But question arises here is that, what can the government do now? In the short term, it can subsidise inputsand buy the agricultural produce and the weavers’ products. But from the

long-term perspective, it raises some basic questions about the

socio-economic development the country has embarked upon.

Elias

Elias — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0000

This is so sad. Earlier so many poor farmers killed themselves due to huge debt. Now the weavers. Where is India heading? Why aren’t policies changed for these poor people.

Abdullah Khan

Abdullah Khan — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Dear Elias

The government has implemented many policies specifically intended to help the poor. But how effective these policies have been and how many people they reach is nevertheless a matter for debate.Because there is not the political will.

Julie

Julie — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0000

But we buy the hand loom products at a price much higher than the machine made products. It means all the money is gulped by the middlemen and nothing reach poor people who actually work hard.

Abdullah Khan

Abdullah Khan — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0000

You are absolutely right Julie, nothing reach poor people who actually work hard. Globalization of capital and the work force has made a relatively small percentage of the Indian population happy i.e. middleman. But at the same time, millions are in misery, both in cities and villages, with no hope for a better future

Usha

Usha — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0000

The British broke the back bone of the Indian economy by throwing the weavers and artisans out of job. This was decades ago. But even today there is not much change in the status of the weavers. Our government which is supposed to work for the upliftment of the poor does nothing of the kind. Whichever party forms the govt., its only aim will be to ensure that its vote bank is full. No matter what happens to the people.

Eventhough we are out of the British era, we need to exercise caution while casting our vote if our rural economy needs to improve. Our political system is so corrupt that an educated person does not even want to be a part of it.

A govt. formed by selfless, educated people, willing to work for the upliftment of the poor, is the crying need of the hour.

Abdullah Khan

Abdullah Khan — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Undoubtedly,govt is apathetic to weavers’ plight.Govt is busy in merely vote garnering gimmick.

Usha

Usha — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Rajagopalan S

Rajagopalan S — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0000

I honestly pity the workers in this industry.

At a time when they should be going to school, weavers’ children are helping their parents to make ends meet. Since able-bodied adults are mostly busy with loom work, and elderly people are unable to perform fine work due to failing eye sight, children are roped in for making new wefts by joining threads to a piece from the old weave.

Unless the Government bring in more subsidy and remove middlemen, it will be further challenging to uplift this poor community.

Abdullah Khan

Abdullah Khan — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0000

To keep the handlooms going,govt help is basic. You can have commercial enterprises,professional designers, individual people trying to create a western market for handlooms and so on, but that is only marginal. The govt

needs to push handlooms. There is need to create demand within the

country.

Pnk Guru

Pnk Guru — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Dear friends,

Hand loom saris produced by our artist weavers in cotton and silk are very elegant to wear and safety even to the modern women of India in summer.

However, we switched over to polyethylene fibers and their blends for want of easiness in production in textile mills. Increased production of all these synthetic fabrics has taken to the destruction of hand loom industry.

To alleviate the sufferings of these weavers, there is a need to create awareness about the goodness of such cotton and silk saris and sustained efforts to market these hand loom dress materials for churidhars, skirts and blouses.

All educated girls and employed women will naturally be inclined towards these cotton and silks as they have soft corner to the poor weaver-women in villages toiling in this cottage industry.

There should be a ban on the power loom made cloths (certified illegally as hand loom made and) proposed for exports.Only the genuine hand loom dress materials should be encouraged for exports.

The encouragement and support must come from the people who wish to make their brothers and sisters to make a decent living in the villages.

Creating awareness among the earning youth and bringing modernity in the hand loom cloths may be good marketing ideas.

Let the Governments at the center and the state take serious initiative in this direction also.

Abdullah Khan

Abdullah Khan — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Creating awareness may be good marketing idea. The govt should play a central role in reviving and sustaining

handlooms. First, by subsidising handloom production and also by creating

a market for it. Reviving and sustaining local markets is very important.

Second, reviving old and extinct designs and textures would really help. Third, the scattered groups ofhandloom weavers across the country need to be mobilised to address commonproblems. With appropriate efforts handlooms can be

revived and sustained in India.

Incognito

Incognito — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Sadly this holds true for artisans and crafters in most countries.. with less money to spend, people look to the cheaper imports, because they can buy more for less.

Indian handwoven material is so incredibly beautiful, but if the material is used for saris only, it’s limited in its scope. As Kalyani Rampilla suggested, if designers started using the material with more western oriented designs, and marketed it to the west., I’m sure many people would buy.

Abdullah Khan

Abdullah Khan — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0000

The finer quality or expensive handlooms can be kept alive. But the problem

is sustaining the lower- quality handlooms at the lower end of the market.

People who normally go in for handloom saris at the lower end of the

market are moving to the cheaper ones that are also easily maintainable,

from the powerlooms and the mills. That is the real problem. This trend

needs to be reversed. But I do not know how one can do it.