Mirzapur: Razia is only 28 years old, but she looks tired beyond her years. With her husband having left their hometown to earn a living, it is left to her to raise a large family while working to support them as well. Supporting the family, however, is becoming tougher every year. Razia, like most weavers in Mirzapur, works at least eight hours a day earning only about Rs 50.
Mohammed Saddam, another weaver in Mirzapur, points to a carpet that he is working on. “This is a 9 feet X 12 feet carpet. It takes over a week to make this. In the domestic market, it will sell for at least Rs 10,000. If it is exported, it will not fetch less than Rs 25,000. Of this amount, only Rs 400 will come to the weaver. This is exploitation of labour. We are not being given a fair deal.”
Bhadohi and Mirzapur districts in eastern UP, both of which go to polls on March 8, are home to UP’s famous carpet weavers. Carpets woven in these two districts find buyers in not only domestic markets but also in foreign markets of Europe and North America.
Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a skill development scheme for weavers but it was limited to Varanasi, his Lok Sabha constituency. Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav launched a state-wide pension scheme for weavers. The scheme had found praise from the weaver community, mostly Muslims, but there has been little improvement in their livelihood. Their main demand, says Saddam, is a minimum wage. “If we work 12 hours a day, we manage to earn around Rs 80-120. That is just cruel. If we are working a certain number of hours in a day, we should be guaranteed a certain minimum amount. We are not asking for entitlements. We are only asking for what is fair.”
In the 2007 Assembly elections, the BJP managed to win just one out of five seats. In 2012, the party failed to win even one seat. This year, however, the BJP is believed to be on a much stronger wicket than before. Mirzapur, which borders Varanasi district, is the Lok Sabha constituency of Union Minister and Apna Dal chief Anupriya Patel. Her clout among Patels and other non-Yadav OBC communities could help the BJP end its decade-long drought in the district.
In Mirzapur city, however, Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party is looking to woo weavers with the candidacy of Mohammed Pervez Khan, a carpet trader from Mirzapur.
“He understands the business. Maybe he will be more receptive to our demands,” says Saddam.
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