M F AHMAD
Daltonganj, Mar 26: Poor returns to women for stitching petticoats have led them to discard the job at Koel Aajeevika Apparel Park in Chainpur, Palamu. They get just Rs. 10 rupees for stitching a petticoat. Women find it too shameful a remuneration and so have discarded stitching them.
It is satirically said ‘petty money for petticoats’ can’t keep sewing machines in this Apparel Park going.
The apparel park is almost shut. A handful of women there are instead stitching jholas at Rs. 3 rupees per piece and are content with it.
Block programme manager Satya Priy Tiwary agreed that it is quite a hard time for the women who work here and equally a hard time for the Koel Aajeevika Apparel Park just because there is no order to conduct fabric construction work here.
Tiwary confirmed that women who used to stitch petticoats here used to get just Rs. 10 per petticoat and so they abandoned stitching them.
He said that the women were given cloth by the textile shop owners of Chainpur and other adjoining markets which was cut and stitched by them. “The remuneration was not worth the labour and time spent on it,” said Tiwary.
DC Palamu Shashi Ranjan on this said, “We did try to get petticoat stitching trade to continue here but it got grounded.”
“The Palamu Chamber of Commerce was approached by the administration to keep the petticoat business running but this traders’ outfit withdrew itself completely from it,” said the DC.
Deputy development commissioner (DDC) Megha Bhardwaj also said that the Palamu Chamber of Commerce and Industries evinced no interest in it.
“We have approached the National Skill Development Corporation for this Apparel Park,” the DC added.
The national skill development corporation has assured to work on the park here. DC Ranjan said, “Ours is a one crore project under the active consideration of the national skill development corporation.”
DDC Palamu Megha Bhardwaj said this park, although equipped well, still needs to be further advanced to qualify it for the certification for the apparel park at par with others in the country.
Sources said an apparel park is recognised for its quality of finished fabric, colour fastness design and people’s acceptability. Good quality fibre yarns and state of art tailoring are other things that make apparel parks famous.
Dharavi slum in Maharashtra produces a variety of fabric construction in just one or two windowless dingy rooms and does good business.
But here in Koel Aajeevika Apparel Park which is located in a prime location with huge space, roof and floor and electricity, is slowly becoming a sick unit unless its resuscitation is not done.
This Apparel Park has not been able to market a single piece of kidswear. Kidswear is sold in Palamu on cycles. But this Apparel Park is out of touch with the sellers.
Mohan Kumar, a civil society activist, said: “We have scores of quality biscuits from national companies from Patanjali to Britannia to Farm Bisk to Amul but despite this local biscuits still hold on to the market.”
He said if local biscuits can survive amidst the plethora of big companies then why the Koel Aajeevika Apparel Park should slump like this.
He suggested taking small orders for fabric construction. “It is Ram Navmi time. There is a great demand for saffron flags. It can be stitched and sold.”
“Again there will come a month-long Shravani Mela where thousands of devotees including men, women, girls, boys and children wear a special saffron dress and that can be done here,” he added.
The DC and DDC both talked about market linkage to this Apparel Park as then only it can survive on its own. This apparel park is disconnected from the market. It is its major fault. Improper planning led to this situation.
Apart from the abandonment of the petticoats, this Koel Aajeevika Apparel Park is choked with government school uniforms of classes 1 to 5 and 6 to 8 worth Rs. 17 to 18 lakhs.
Satya Priy Tiwary confirmed the stocking of government schools uniforms and said it is because government schools remained closed all through the year 2021 due to the Coronavirus and its students did not get a chance to wear uniforms as their classes were all online.
These uniforms were to be bought by the district education office for 216 government schools under the Chainpur block for onward distribution of it in schools through their school management committee.
“Two sets of uniform for class 1 to 5 has a price tag of Rs 350 while two sets of uniform for class 6 to 8 come for Rs. 400,” said Satya Priy Tiwary.
DC Shashi Ranjan assured that ready to wear school uniforms will not rot anymore on the shelves of the Koel Aajeevika Apparel Park.
He said, “We are aware of the huge stocking of the uniforms of students in this Apparel Park. All school management committees have been asked to send their requisition to the district education office for the school uniform.”
DDC Megha Bhardwaj said, “We are very seriously working on the lifting of the stocked uniform by our government schools for the use of their students.”
