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Our Bureau

Bangalore, June 3 The European Commission has made a financial commitment of €750,000 for a project to improve the livelihood and working conditions of cotton farmers, weavers and garment makers in South India.

The commission has been supporting this project, being implemented by Oxfam India (an NGO), since January 2008 and it will continue patronage till December 2011.

Oxfam has been working with farmers and weavers in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka since 2003. It encourages cotton farmers to shift from chemical to organic farming. Till now, it has managed to rope in 4,584 families into organic farming and has sold cotton worth Rs 6 crore to the Cotton Corporation of India. It has also organised 250 weavers and spread awareness among them about policy research, design development and collective marketing. The project has set itself some targets – reach out to 8,000 farmers and convert them into organic farmers, and establish direct market access for 1,000 weavers.

Oxfam also works with garment workers in Bangalore, especially women, in partnership with Cividep India (Civil Initiatives for Development and Peace India) to address issues with regard to working conditions and wages.

The European Commission is financing about 63 per cent of the total project fund; the rest comes from Oxfam.

Highlighting the issues of garment workers in Bangalore, Mr K.P. Gopinath, General Secretary, Cividep, said the workers on an average get paid Rs 101 a day, which is the lowest in India.

The garment workers have formed associations with the help of Cividep to lobby for their rights – Munnade (a women workers social organisation) and GATWU (Garment and Textile Workers Union).

More Stories on : Cotton | Social Welfare | Human Resources | Karnataka

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