THE highly unjust tariffs imposed by the United States can have very adverse impacts on the livelihoods of garments workers in several parts of India. To reduce the adverse impact on livelihoods various options are being explored including search for alternative export markets.
While this search can certainly go ahead, a different kind of option can also be considered in the form of a large-scale programme for the supply of garments to the poorest and needy sections of society.
Several members of weaker sections fall short of adequate clothes for various seasons, as is evident also from the roaring business of used clothes. This writer has been a part of some efforts to provide new as well as second hand clothes to some remote villages of extreme poverty, and from personal experience he can assert that these clothes as well as shoes were very well received by the poorest families as they were genuinely in need of them.
If this was the situation in normal times, then one can imagine that the condition in villages affected by floods or other disasters can be such that there is even more urgent need for clothes. Once while reporting on the aftermath of floods in North Bihar, in the winter months I came across a large number of families which were shivering in the bitterly cold winds due to absence of proper shelter and clothes.
In the course of some efforts to take clothes to the needy, we also learnt two important lessons. Firstly, it is very important to keep in mind the kind of garment needs people of any locality have. For some kinds of clothes, like sweaters for children, this is not much of an issue. However, in the case of several other kinds of clothes, particularly for women, keeping in view more specific requirements is important.
Secondly, while providing clothes it is very important to take up the entire work in conditions of respecting the dignity of recipients.
One possibility is that the government can supply the clothes to needy people using existing channels like Anganwadis (centres for pre-school children and mothers). Also, to ensure that the clothes are in keeping with local needs, one district can be attached to a particular manufacturing unit relatively nearer to it and then the requirements of the district can be communicated to the manufacturing unit by a district level team with a good representation from weaker sections, particularly women.
This manufacturing unit can supply clothes to this district till the crisis period caused by the highly unjust Trump tariffs lasts.
Once this crisis is over, the scheme can be converted into a different decentralised one wherein the garment making work is assigned to local women or their self-help groups in labour intensive ways. The earlier big suppliers if they are interested can continue to have some role for training but the livelihood benefits and budget allocations should go mainly to self-help groups of local women.
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Bharat Dogra writes extensively on environment, development and welfare issues. The views expressed here are the writer’s own, and Clarion India does not necessarily subscribe to them. He can be reached at: bharatdogra1956@gmail.com
