downtoearth-subscribe

Little hands

Little hands 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. This work, often involving the skillful matching and arranging of threads in correct order, is quite a strain on the eyes. And since joining of one set of threads takes around 12-14 hours, children, mostly girls, are required to sit in one place for long hours. The wage for joining one set of threads is around Rs 30. Folding and packing work is done almost entirely by children.

Related Content