In contrast to the gender-based wage gaps found elsewhere, women employed in the weaving industry in Telangana often earn as much as, or sometimes more than, their male counterparts. There is, however, a catch.
Published Jan 08, 2025 | 12:35 PM ⚊ Updated Jan 15, 2025 | 11:18 AM
There is no clear gender pay disparity among weavers. However, the industry is struggling.
This report is the third in a series analysing gender-based wage gaps in South Indian states. The Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation recently released a report examining the roles of men and women across various sectors. The findings highlight a significant disparity in earnings, with women in India earning considerably less than their male counterparts. Read the first part here and the second part here.
In contrast to the gender-based wage gaps found elsewhere, women employed in the weaving industry in Telangana often earn as much as, or sometimes more than, their male counterparts. However, their earnings are meagre compared to the effort and time they invest in the work.
Telangana is one of the biggest cotton-producing states in India. During the 2024-25 Kharif season, Telangana was projected to harvest about 81.7 lakh metric tonnes of cotton on around 23.44 lakh hectares of land.
This would approximately constitute 6.82 per cent of the total cotton production in India and the state ranks third in terms of textile production, only behind Gujarat and Maharastra.
Telangana also has an array of famous weaves, such as the Pochampally Ikat, Gadwal Sarees, and Warangal Durries. Weaving is also a primary occupation in areas like Sircilla, Gadwal, Pochampally, and Warangal. Additionally, according to a 2018 policy document, the state has 49,000 power looms and 17,000 handlooms.
As such, it employs numerous people across the state, especially families. While some cooperatives and societies bring together weavers, many of them often operate from their houses. Hence, it gives way to a question, is there wage parity among the genders in the weaving industry?
With respect to the weaving industry in Telangana, the answer is not black and white. It is hard to ascertain whether there is pay parity. For instance, in a majority of households, it is the male who registers as a weaver despite engaging the entire family in the work. In such cases, the females are often not counted as a direct payee.
Pochampally Handlooms Co-Op Society
“We can’t help it, the work is demanding and we need everyone in the family to contribute,” Raju Challa, a 38-year-old weaver from Pochampally told South First.
He is among the many household weavers in Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district’s Bhoodan Pochampally, a town popular for its special Pochampally Ikkat weave. When asked about his wife’s income, he stated that it was not him who was paid but the family. “The money that we receive is not for my work or hers, it’s for ours,” he explained adding that he makes anywhere between ₹10,000 and ₹15,000 a month depending on how many sarees they can produce.
Raju’s wife, 31-year-old Shyamala, is responsible for the tieing and dyeing of the saree while Raju primarily operates the loom.
R Anjaneyulu, the manager of the Pochampally Handlooms Co-Op Society, told South First that females were substantially less among the registered weavers. Out of the 920 registered weavers at the company that has been functioning since 1955, only 260 are women. Of the 240 female weavers who are active now, only 20 work around the year.
“We encourage women to register with us. However, these are mostly families that register with us. No policy in the registration process deters women,” Anjaneyulu said.
He added that even the pay is solely on the merit of the work done. “The gender doesn’t matter as long as they continue to provide finished products, they will be paid the wages for their work,” he added.
Ch Pavani (left) and Challa Someshwari (right)
Ch Pavani is a 30-year-old weaver in Pochampally. She and her husband work at the same location as daily wage labourers. “I belong to the SC [Scheduled Caste] community. We do not do this work traditionally, however, I learned the craft in Sircilla and continued to work as a weaver,” she told South First.
While she works the looms, her husband is responsible for dyeing the fabric, a reversal of the general norm. “I work about 8 hours daily, same as others,” she said. “Depending on the number of sarees I produce, I make about ₹14,000 a month. I’m paid the same as everyone else here,” she continued.
She added that given the nature of her skill, she brought in a larger income than her husband. “My husband usually makes about ₹12,000 a month,” she said.
Similarly, there is Challa Someshwari, another 35-year-old weaver, who works a double shift. She works as a daily wage weaver between 10 am and noon and 3 pm to 7 pm, and on her husband’s loom back home. “My husband does not know how to work the loom well, I have to support him at home to be able to work. He makes about ₹10,000 a month,” she told South First.
“I, on the other hand, earn about ₹15,000 on a decent month,” she continued. She too, stated that she found there to be no difference in wages based on gender. “I have not seen or heard of anyone getting paid less for being a woman. In weaving, the sarees matter more than the gender. If you do well, you get paid well. If you do bad, you do not. That has nothing to do with gender,” she said.
According to the Women and Men in India, 2023, report, females have a labour force participation of 42.7 percent in rural areas and 21.6 percent in urban areas.
Data detailing sector-wise pay differences in India
According to the data, males in a rural setting are likely to earn ₹59 working in craft and related trades. However, females are only likely to earn ₹47 per hour for work in the same sector in Telangana. That’s a difference of ₹12 per hour, totalling a difference of about ₹96 for eight hours of work daily.
Despite notions that the difference is less pronounced in urban areas, the data suggests otherwise. In urban settings, a male craft and related trades worker is likely to make ₹72 as opposed to the ₹49 a female would make in the same setting. Like earlier, that is an hourly difference of ₹21 per hour, adding up to a ₹168 difference for 8 hours of work.
For eight hours of work in the craft and related trades, a Telangana woman is likely to make ₹168 less in urban areas and ₹96 less in rural areas. That is about 29 percent less in urban areas and about 20 percent less in rural areas for the same work as a male.
The data from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) points towards gender pay disparity being a structural issue.
It interestingly corrected the notion that the disparity is less pronounced in urban areas as well.
Despite the cases of Pavani and Someshwari presenting a positive trend, the data depicts a more uneven playing field for the genders.
Similar to Raju’s case, in numerous households, weaving is not a one-person job. Despite women of the house playing a role in production, they are not seen as making direct contributions but are instead viewed as providing “support”.
Stitching flags is the only source of income for Sircilla’s Y Lakshmi
In the town of Sircilla, in the Rajanna Sircilla district, weaving is a primary occupation for most families which own and operate looms out of their houses. The town is popular for supplying flags for political events and elections.
Krishna, a flag manufacturer, told South First that the gender ratio of his workforce is skewed towards women.
“The men I employ often only operate the machinery. They are only involved in the manufacturing part of things, manning the looms. However, the women are in charge of the cutting and stitching. We engage them on an exponentially higher degree because of that,” he revealed.
He explained that the pay structure is limited. “It is hard to say that there is a pay disparity, it would be inappropriate to say that one gender is paid more than the other because of their differing roles,” he opined.
Lakshmi is one such person who makes an income anytime there is a demand for flags. Her husband, Y Satyanarayana, once owned a loom in Sicricilla. “We used to own a loom, one that’s been in the family for two generations. During a good season, we’d make about ₹14,000 a month. However, we had to shut shop due to losses,” she said.
Today, the only source of income that Lakshmi has is her stitching gig during the peak seasons where she stitches about 1,000 flags a day to earn ₹500.
The key factor affecting pay parity in the weaving industry is the acknowledgement of labour. In a large number of cases, the labour becomes invisible due to the engagement of the entire household. However, having individual employment under cooperative societies and integrated handloom units enables women to earn equal to or, based on merit, more than a man.
For every few cases like Pavani and Someshwari, there are many more Lakshmis and Shyamalas. With the females’ work going unacknowledged in many households, and data suggesting that females in the industry make 25 percent lesser, on average, than males, pay parity between the genders is still an uphill battle.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
