Another cooperative member, Alam Ansari, said that profits rarely get to the weavers. "The balance sheets are never made at the end of the financial year and the rules are openly flouted," he said.
"The cooperative societies are anti-women," said another cooperative member, Shabana. "When I was pregnant I got no medical benefits, although there is a provision for maternity benefits in the cooperative society act."
According to Zuleikha Bano, president of the Handloom Silk Cooperative Society, playpens are rare and educational facilities for the children of female workers are non-existent.
But the condition of women who are not in cooperatives is even worse, as they are paid less than their male counterparts. In fact, in traditional weaving families, women are not paid at all, although they form the backbone of the industry and work in every aspect of sari production.
One local weaver, Nizamuddin, said he prefers to have nothing to do with cooperatives. "Master weavers float bogus cooperatives to get raw material at subsidized rates and a platform to market the saris profitably. We get nothing," he said.
Widespread Exploitation
The Cooperative Societies Act dates back to 1904, when India was still under colonial rule. Since then, and following the country's independence in 1947, the cooperatives have been turned into an instrument of exploitation of the very workers they were set up to benefit.
Lack of professional management, bureaucratic control, and political interference together have denied artisans their true worth and have contributed to the downfall of India's cooperative movement as a whole—so much so that in recent times cooperative operators have seen their scams and tales of embezzlement exposed in the media.
One notable exception is the famed Anand Dairy Cooperative in the western state of Gujarat. It has steadfastly resisted political and bureaucratic interference to become a model cooperative and has helped India achieve the status of the world's largest producer of dairy products.
Some time ago, the government set up several Weavers Service Centers that were supposed to help poor and small weavers. But a visit to any of these centers would show that those who actually operate them are traders and master weavers.
"What has been happening is that master weavers, traders, and even exporters corner the benefits with the connivance of officials, and nobody really cares for genuine artisans," said Arif, an individual weaver who would like to get out of the trade if he could find an alternative.
Copyright 2002 Inter Press Service
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