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Shakuntla Sangam Assistt. Prof.Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya

National Law University, Lucknow

ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN ENGAGED IN

CHIKANKARI WORK AT LUCKNOW: EMERGING ISSUES

AND CHALLENGES

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• According to country report of Government of India, “Empowerment means moving from a position of enforced powerlessness to one of power”.

• It is a multi-dimensional, multi-tiered and multifaceted concept; has different meanings in different socio cultural and political contexts.

Empowerment

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• The Constitution of India not only grants equality to women but also empowers the State to adopt measures of positivediscrimination in favour of women.

• Articles 14, 15, 15(3), 16, 39(a), 39(c) and 42 of the

Constitution ), 39(bare of specific importance in this regard.

Constitutional Provisions for Women

Empowerment

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• National Commission for Women.• National Policy for the Empowerment of Women,

2001

Special Initiative for Women

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• The status of women is intimately connected with their economic status, which in turn, depends upon rights, roles and opportunity for the participation in economic activities.

• On the world level, women and girls together carry out two-third of the burden of the world’s work yet receive only a tenth of the world’s income. They form 40 percent of the paid labour force.

Present Status of Women

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• women’s economic empowerment is that, their capacity to earn income as well as their ability to make decisions and control resources to bring about economic change for themselves.

Economic Empowerment

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• Despite these potential benefits, women’s status in the labor market is significantly inferior to the men. They get lower pay, less security and work in poor working conditions.

Women’s Status in the Labour Market

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• Women’s enterprises face multiple challenges. • Limited access to credit and markets. • Lack education and other life skills.• Money management and negotiation.• Training opportunities for management, basic book-keeping and accounting.

Challenges Faced by Women’s Enterprises

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• The British increased their share in global trade by marketing Indian handicraft in their time. Though disappeared due to long intentional neglect and some survived due to the patronage of kings, wealthy craft lovers, and various socio-cultural practices.

• The global market for handicrafts has

been estimated at more than $235 billion.

Commercialization of Indian Handicraft

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• Chikan is a major manufacturing industry in the Lucknow, (UP).• Chikan is made in stages. • Male workers dominate all the stages but the embroidery itself, where over mostly workers are Muslim women and female embroiderers are differentiated primarily in terms of skill

Chikan Industry

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Traders & middlemen compel artisans to sell their products at throwaway prices.

These products are then sold in global craft bazaars at high cost.

Artisans are forced to sell crafts on weight basis later to be sold piece by piece for huge profits. Now production has increased due to global demand but benefit does not percolate to the majority of the artisans.

Prevalent Practices in Chikan Industry

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1. Protecting & preserving the culture and heritage of Lucknow. That is a guarantee to a sustainable growth of handicrafts which have a market world-wide.

2. Surviving of genuine artistry & sustain their livelihood among artisan community.

3. Access of work through middlemen/agent.4. Denial fair share of earning.5. Import of cheap embroidery machines

from china for machine embroidery cheaper rate.

Challenges- Before Artisans

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• The dependence of embroidery workers upon female agents calls into question whether gender can be a basis for solidarity and action.

• Chikan is a style of hand-embroidered clothing whose production is time and again described in the literature as an instance of the oppression of undifferentiated female workers by male agents and traders

Chikan Industry and Women Empowerment

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• There are no reliable figures on how many embroiderers there are; estimates range from 100,000 to 2.5 lakh and chikan is currently a mass-market commodity, cheap, coarse work is far more common than fine work. Study is based on field survey. Thus a

total 104 workers were extensively surveyed.

Population dynamics of the chikan craft artisans/Embroiders

TailorsWasher men PrintersChikankars/ArtisansAgentsTotal

Table:1 Chikan Craft workers(house hold) inlucknow

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16

6 cutting masters,

14 printers,

6 tailors,

66 chikankars,

6 washer men and

9 agents

Thus a total of 107 workers were extensively surveyed.

Table:1 Chikan Craft Workers(house hold) in Lucknow

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HinduMuslimTotal

Table-2 Religion wise Chikan Craft workers(house hold) in LucknowTable-2 Religion wise

chikan workers (Household) in Lucknow

HinduMuslimTotal

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• Out of our survey 29 were Hindu workers and

78were Muslim workers, meaning that

percentage-wise they are 26.67 per cent

and 73.33 per cent respectively. If the entire

family members of the 107 respondent chikan workers are added, it comes altogether

579 persons out of which males and females

are 276 and 303 respectively.

Table-2 Religion wise Chikan Craft workers(house hold) in Lucknow

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FemaleMaleTotal

Table-3 Gender wise Chikan Workers in Lucknow

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The entire family members of the

107 respondent chikan workers are added, it comes altogether

579 persons out of which  males

and females are 276 and 303 respectively.

Table-3 Gender wise Chikan Workers in

Lucknow

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HinduMuslim

Table-4 Sex ratio of Chikan craft worker per 1000 Males

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The overall sex ratio among the family members of chikan craft

workers is high, i.e. 1098

females per 1000 males. The highest sex ratio is found among the families of chikankars, i.e.

1407 females per 1000 males.

Table- 4 Sex Ratio Of Chikan Craft Worker Per 1000 Males

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Female

Male

Table-5 Literacy and Education in chikan craft

worker

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About 44.20 and 38.61 per cent among male and female population of chikan craft households are below High School and above High school are few in numbers.

Table-5 Literacy and Education in chikan craft

worker

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Female Chikankar/

Artisans

Female Agent

Male Agent Male Agent Printer 05

101520253035404550

Table- 6 House Hold Occupation and Income Of

Chikan Craft Workers

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Chikankar females are in majority among chikan craft workers, whose average income is Rs.575.00 per month. 

Income of female agent is about Rs.2171.00 per month, which is highest even in comparison to female’s working in other than chikan craft jobs.

Though male workers in chikan craft are less than the females, but their earning is between

Rs.1680.00 to Rs.3750.00 per month, which is quite high.

Table- 6 House Hold Occupation and Income of Chikan Craft Workers

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cutting masters

Tailors washer men 0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Table-7 Earnings of Chikan craft workers per month

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Among total 107 chikan craft workers, 2 male &7 female agents, were each earning Rs.3750.00 (highest) &

Rs.2171.42 per month respectively, whereas 6 male cutting masters each earning Rs.3300.00 per month; 6

washermen, each earning Rs.2816.66 per month, 14 male printers, each earning Rs.2542.85, 6 male tailors reported  earning Rs.1680.83 and 63 female chikankars reported earning an average of Rs.574.60 per month.

Table-7 Earnings of Chikan craft workers per

month

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The status of women to an abysmally low position from Vedic times.

Research shows that inequalities persist in the way paid and unpaid work is divided between women and men

There is no mechanism where Middlemen/ agent may be compelled to give proper wages, as the work force is in surplus and they compete among themselves to work on lesser wages for their survival.

CONCLUSION

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India's share in global handicraft

export is less than 2 per cent, with available potential it can reach 4 per cent export target. And a sustainable export growth depends on the survival of genuine artistry among the artisan community.

RECOMMENDATIONS

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Artisans should be included under Minimum Wages Act to receive a minimum level of wage protection.

Welfare schemes and provisions under different laws should be extended to them.

Women engaged in Chikan embroidery as home based worker needs different measures for empowerment , protection and welfare.

Continue…….

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THANK YOU!