Handloom weavers trapped in poverty
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Mahmoodul Hasan of Uttar Pradesh is 36 years of age and has been weaving since he was 14. But today, a proper meal seems to be a battle. He is suffering from tuberculosis but cannot even afford treatment. He recently became a father to a daughter, but only for 6 hours. His wife Afsana could not deliver at the primary health centre because he could not pay the required bribes. She was not even registered for the maternity benefit through the Auxiliary Nursing Mother (ANM). This is not an isolated story. This is but the fate that is looming large over many handloom weavers in India.
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the People's Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR), a human rights organization based in Uttar Pradesh, that many people from the handloom weaver community of the state are infected with tuberculosis. These weavers are losing their livelihood to power looms and cheap imports from foreign countries and find it difficult to manage food daily. Given the physical condition of a starving weaver and the presence of the infection in surrounding houses, coupled with very poor health services create the most congenial environment for the illness to spread fast in the community. Most of them do not even have the Below Poverty Line (BPL) cards as the limited distribution of the BPL cards, failure in proper need assessment and card distribution and fixed renewal date makes it difficult for them to get one. Therefore they stay out of the benefits of government sponsored schemes. There have been instances where their failure to grease the palms of corrupt officials has also kept them from getting their due. Even schemes like the weaver's health card launched by the ICICI bank (formerly the Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI) has not reached these weavers. The AHRC has launched an appeal to urge people to write to the Chief Minister and other officials to express their concerns and urge them to take serious action. Send an appeal |
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