Helping the migrants
Our artisans are the makers of our story and it was our turn to stand by them during the pandemic, feels Daisy Tanwani, CEO of brand Pinklay. Speaking about her in-house initiatives to help the workers, she says, “We didn’t have to let go of anyone and doubled our artisan strength across the last 2 years. We increased the number of artisans in our fold to approximately 400, of which 50% are women. As soon as the government eased curfew relaxations, we began working with all social distancing norms in place. We understood that there was only one way to get through this, keep working without compromising on safety. For artisans, it was not an either-or situation, so we added another facility so they could spread out and sit.”
Tanwani also facilitated accommodation and other necessities for outstation employees and ensured strict transportation and sanitinisation norms at work. “It was a tricky and scary feat to achieve but together we managed,” she informs, “We realized that many of our women artisans couldn’t travel to work so we ensured that work travelled to them safely. There were clusters of families as far as 150 km from the city that were continuously provided work like embroidery, kantha, pompom making etc. We consciously included many semi/un/skilled women in our workforce from the families of our artisans for errands like packaging, thread cutting etc. Everyone was given paid time off to get vaccinated and recuperate.”
WE REALIZED THAT MANY OF OUR WOMEN ARTISANS COULDN’T TRAVEL TO WORK SO WE ENSURED THAT WORK TRAVELLED TO THEM SAFELY. THERE WERE CLUSTERS OF FAMILIES AS FAR AS 150 KM FROM THE CITY THAT WERE CONTINUOUSLY PROVIDED WORK LIKE EMBROIDERY, KANTHA, POMPOM MAKING ETC.
— DAISY TANWANI, CEO, BRAND PINKLAY