Hand spinning -- India; India -- Economic conditions; Manufactures -- India
About two lbs. of yarn are now prepared every day and the quantity will
increase as the spinners get used to the work. The rate for spinning is
fixed at 6 as. a lb., though many workers complain that it is not
enough. As the yarn sent for sale realised a price of As. 12 a pound,
the spinning charges could not be increased without a loss. Every lb. of
yarn requires Annas 11 pies 3 for expenses, as 0-5-3 for cotton and
0-6-0 for spinning. Thus every lb. leaves a profit of 9 pies only. The
establishment and other charges are not calculated. With the present
rate of spinning at 6 as. a lb., one spinner earns 3 as. per day by
spinning 20 to 24 tolas, more earn 2 as. a day by spinning 15 tolas and
the rest 1-1/2 as. a day for 10 tolas, the beginners excluded. The more
the spinner is used to the work, the more he will earn.
An attempt was made to prepare cloth out of the yarn and three and a
half lbs. of yarn were given to a weaver for weaving. He however charged
an exorbitant rate for weaving. He prepared nine and a half yards of
cloth and charged Rs. 3-9 for it, practically 1 rupee a lb. The cloth
cost Rs. 6-0-6 and was sold at Rs. 6-3-0, with a profit of as. 2 and
pies 6 only. To obviate the difficulty about weaving, a separate loom
with one teacher to teach weaving to local persons is urgently required.
Many local people wish to learn this art. A separate loom will reduce
the cost of the cloth prepared on it below the prevailing market rate.
About 6 lbs. of yarn are given to different weavers to ascertain the
exact charges, but all this difficulty can only be removed by having a
special loom.
When there was a shortage of cotton and the workers had no work, wool
was introduced for spinning till cotton was ready. This work was
willingly taken up by the Dhangar. They were however required to spin
finer thread of wool than they usually prepared. They took some time to
pick up the work, and now there are 10 wool spinners working fine
thread. They are also paid at 6 as. a lb. for spinning. Wool worth
Rs. 31 @ 2 lbs. a rupee was purchased, and though the cotton was ready, the
wool spinning was continued by starting a separate department, as the
Dhangars readily took up the work. The whole process of cleaning the
wool is also done by the Dhangar women, who get an extra anna per lb.
for it. The sorting of wool is carefully looked to. The majority of wool
spinners use their own spinning wheels but a few are now asking for the
improved wheel for preparing finer threads.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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