in india, hand-made rugs were traditionallya way for farmers to earn extra money. they were woven at home,by the familiy, and sold. today, it is common for rugs tobe woven in unregulated centres with very poor conditions. no regard for the workers, andvery insecure work prospects. as well as that, it is veryhard to ensure consistent quality and supply of rugs for a business. this situation isobviously unacceptable. ikea decided to do something about it
both for the businessand for the workers. together with our suppliers we wanted to change the hand-maderug industry, for the better. weaving has been consolidatedinto regulated centres, with decent working conditions, proper health and safety precautions, and care for the environment. workers are paid fair wages, havestable steady work and know thay will havea steady income too.
they can plan their lives and invest in the future forthemselves and their children. weaving has become a true profession,and new weavers are needed, so they are being trained. sandeep is learning to weave atone of the weaving centres, it is his first week. i'm a graduate with bachelor's degree in arts. after my studies i joinedhere to learn the craft of weaving. there are at least 10 people frommy village who work here
and they advised me that this placehas very nice work atmosphere and i will be able to learn a lot. tabassum has worked in a weavingcentre for an year and half. she weaves on a new type of punja loominvented by ikea. this loom is easier to use, and can beoperated by a single person. it also has manyergonomic improvements. this machine is much better than the other one. on this i don't have to waitfor the partner to start working. i can easily work alone on this machine.
i'm even relieved from the pressure on my back. santosh and rajindar weavetogether on a pit loom. they have both workedmany years as weavers and in the past they could only findjob away from home and familiy. me and my other workmates, almost 70 of us weavers, commute dailyby the company bus which picks us up from our village in the morning and also drops us back after work. since i have joined here i alwayshad fixed permanent employment
with proper timely remunerationas per the work i submit. all this has lead us to build updecent savings that we are utilizing in building our house and forexpenses towards our marriage. the best part is that we leave our familiesat home in the morning to go to work and then go back home after work. it's so comforting to be able togo back to our family after work and live together and take care of our family. when we started this inhouseproduction we find that we are able to delivermuch better products and on time.
and the control is much better. we are able to monitor everything. and we are really happy with it. we get the security of a permanent jobwith timely compensation. weavers like us need just these two things from a job. all our past problems have got solved with this job.