THE WAGE VERSUS PROFIT FACTOR

Artisans work on wages. There’s no concept of profit in their work,” says crafts consultant Meera Goradia, former director of Kutch-based NGO Khamir. This statement underpins the inequalities. Artisan wages are usually matched to daily minimum wages proscribed for unskilled labourers. The minimum wage of non-agricultural, unskilled workers in the central sphere was raised from ~246 to ~350 per day in 2016.There are various models of wage protection, minimum work provision and sustenance for craftspeople. Some fall under government schemes, funds and subsidies for the handloom and handicrafts sector. Others are initiated by not-for-profit organisations like Dastkar, SEWA or Jiyo by Asian Heritage Foundation whose sole aim is to make crafts communities independent. Others like Khamir, Fabindia, have evolved models of profit-sharing by percentage as a give-back to craftspeople. On average, a rural craftsperson earns between ~6,000 and ~14,000 a month. Earnings depend on daily productivity, speed, quality of work. Master craftspeople who double up as middlemen or as associates of city designers earn more. Despite the current hype around turning Khadi into a luxury brand, a spinner earns only ~7 per hank (unit of yarn). An average of 25 hanks/day still adds up to only ~175 daily wage. “It’s important to debate how the net profit percentage is calculated by big design houses and how overheads claimed by stores are justified,” says Goradia.