A Shirt in the Market

Q1. Fill in the blanks.

                            i.        Women are mostly employed in the Impex garment factory.

                           ii.        The garment exporting factory exports the shirts to foreign buyers.

                          iii.        A chain of markets links the producer of cotton to the buyer at the supermarket.

                          iv.        The foreign businessperson made huge profits in the market.

Q2. True/False

                           i.        The trader keeps an account of the yarn given and pays them money for weaving this into cloth. True

                          ii.        Most often, the big farmers need to borrow money to meet their expenses. False

                         iii.        The weavers and their families spend long hours working on the looms. True

                         iv.        Cultivation of cotton requires high levels of inputs such as fertilisers and pesticides. True

Q3. You might have heard of cooperatives in your area. It could be in milk, provisions, paddy, etc. Find out for whose benefit they were set up?

Ans. They were set up for the benefit of its members.

Q4. In what ways are weavers dependent on cloth merchants?

Ans. Weavers are dependent on cloth merchants both for raw materials and markets.

Q5. Did Swapna get a fair price on the cotton?

Ans. No, Swapna did not get a fair price on the cotton because local trader paid her low price.

Q6. Who was Swapna?

Ans. Swapna was a small farmer in Kurnool (Andhra Pradesh) and grows cotton on her small piece of land.

Q7. Why did Swapna borrow money from the local trader?

Ans. Swapna had borrowed money from the trader to buy seeds, fertilisers, pesticides for cultivation.

Q8. What do women workers do in the Impex garment factory?

Ans. They are employed as helpers for thread cutting, buttoning, ironing and packaging.

Q9. On what condition did the trader agree to give loan to Swapna?

Ans. He agreed to give loan to Swapna on a condition that she would sell all her cotton to him.

Q10. How garment exporting factories maximise their own profit?

Ans. They maximise their own profits by getting maximum work from workers at lowest price and supply the foreign buyers at cheap rates.

Q11. Why do you think more women are employed in the Impex garment factory?

Ans. Women are employed in the Impex garment factory because they agree to work even at the lowest possible wages.

Q12. What is putting-out arrangement?

Ans. It is an arrangement between the merchant and the weavers whereby the merchant supplies the raw material and receives the finished product. It is prevalent in the weaving industry in most regions of India.

Q13. What are the reasons that the businessperson is able to make a huge profit in the market?

Ans. Business person do business strictly on their own terms. They demand the lowest prices from the supplier and sells at higher rate to high income group.

Q14. Why did the trader pay Swapna a low price?

Ans. The trader had lent Swapna money at the beginning of the cropping season on a condition that she would sell all her cotton to him. Thus, Swapna was in his grip. The trader took advantage of this situation and paid her a low price.

Q15. Merchants hold lot of power. Explain

Ans. The merchant distributes work among the weavers based on the orders he has received for cloth. The weavers get the yarn from the merchant and supply him the cloth. However, this dependence on the merchants both for raw materials and markets means that the merchants have a lot of power.