Chapter 8: A Shirt in the Market

Question 1 :Did Swapna get a fair price on the cotton ?

Answer:No. Swapna didn’t get a fair price on the cotton.

Question 2 : Why did the trader pay Swapna a low price ?

Answer:The trader paid Swapna a low price on the cotton because she had borrowed money from him and promised to sell her cotton produce to him only.

Question 3 : Where do you think large farmers would sell their cotton ? How is their situation different from Swapna ?

Answer:

• Large farmers would directly sell their cotton either in the cotton market or to Ginning mill.
• Large farmers’ situation is different from Swapna. Swapna is a poor farmer who often borrows money from traders on high interest rate and is made to promise to sell her produce to trader on the price he fixes. But larger farmers are rich and don’t need money on interest to cultivate cotton plants. They invest their money and are not compelled to sell their produce to traders as happened in the case of Swapna. They are free to sell their produce anywhere to fetch reasonable price.

Question 4 :What are the following people doing at the Erode Cloth market merchants, weavers, exporters ?

Answer: 1.Merchants:: Merchants are doing the following activities at the Erode cloth market they buy the cloths made by weavers in the villages. They also get the cloths made on order by the weavers. These merchants supply cloth on order to garment manufacturers and exporters around the country. They also purchase yarn and give instructions to the weavers about the kind of cloth that is to be made.
2. Weavers: Weavers make cloth in the village and bring in the Erode’s bi-weekly cloth market in Tamil Nadu for sale. They also make cloths on order from the merchant. For this, they get the yarn from the merchant and supply him the cloth.
3. Exporters: Exporters buy cotton cloths from merchants and use these cloths to make shirts. They export or sell these shirts to foreign buyers in the US and Europe who run a chain of stores there. These exporters, the owners of the garment exporting factory get the maximum work out of the workers at the lowest possible wages so that they can maximise their profits on supplying the garments to foreign buyers.

Question 5 :In what ways are weavers dependent on cloth merchants ?

Answer:

• The weavers get the work from the merchants based on the orders the merchants have received for the type and quantity of cloth.
• The weavers are dependent on merchants as they get the yarn from the cloth merchants and supply them with the cloth. Thus, the weavers are dependent on the merchants both for raw material and markets.

Question 6 :If the weavers were to buy yarn on their own and sell cloth, they would probably earn three times more. Do you think this is possible? How ? Discuss?

Answer:Yes. This is possible. Because the yarn, the weavers buy from merchants is on the credit of high price and high-interest rate of the cost. But they cannot sell the woven cloth in the market on their own. They have to sell these clothes to merchants who pay very little for them. So, if the weavers were to buy yarn on their own and sell cloth, they would probably earn three times more.

Question 7 :Do you find similar ‘putting out’ arrangements in making papads, masalas, bidis? Find out about this in your area and discuss it in class.

Answer:Yes, I find similar 'putting out' arrangements in making papads, masalas, bidis in my local area, where rich people give the raw materials to workers and make their products done.
Advantages:

• Employment has been created.
• Division of labour is respected.
• End products are being achieved with money.
• No worry for raw materials for poor people.

• Workers involved in making papads, masalas, bidis are compelled to work with low wages for long hours.
• Work shops use short-term wage workers.
• These arrangements involved middlemen, like Agents, Merchants.
• In these entire chain of production, the poor are deprived of fair share/ price.

Question 8 :You might have heard of co¬operatives in your area. It could be in milk, provisions, paddy, etc. Find out for whose benefit they were set up?

Answer:There is milk cooperative in my area. In this cooperative, the milkmen with common interests come together and work for their mutual benefit. This milk cooperative collects the milk from all the milkmen and sell to the milk factory at a reasonable price. The milkmen also get advance through the cooperative without interest and buy cows and buffaloes. Thus, they develop their milk business with the help of cooperatives.

Question 9 :What are the demands foreign buyers make on the garment exporters? Why do the garment exporters agree to these demands?

Answer:The foreign buyers do business on their own terms and conditions. They demand the lowest prices of garments from the garment exporters. In addition, they also set high standards for quality of production and timely delivery. Any defects or delay in delivery is dealt with strictly. The garment exporters agree to the demands of foreign buyers because they earn high profits from this order.

Question 10 :How do the garment exporters meet the conditions set by the foreign buyers?

Answer:

• The garment exporters try to cut the costs of the garment. They fill this cut by getting the maximum work from the workers at the lowest possible wages.
• This way they supply the garments to foreign buyers at a cheap price. Thus, the garment exporters meet the conditions set by the foreign buyers.