Gujarat kite makers are a low-flying lot, says study

Ahmedabad city has the highest number of kite makers in the country, a socio-economic study carried out by the Self Employed Women's Association (Sewa) has revealed.

The study, done on kite makers of Gujarat, reveals that in Ahmedabad alone, there are over 20,000 kite workers, who earn their livelihood by making kites.

The survey, which sampled 500 kite making women of Ahmedabad, shows that the kite-making industry in Ahmedabad is highly unorganised and kite makers are showing little or no interest in getting themselves organised in order to fetch better prices.

Although kite makers remain employed for seven months in a year, they are faced with several problems like exploitation, occupational hazards and lower wages.

Sewa started organising the kite-making women three years ago and till date has been successful in organising more than 5,000 kite making women.

Kite making involves seven processes which includes, cutting, design sticking, sticking threads on all four sides, middle stick and the tail, bottom triangle, arc and the side folds.

The main findings of the survey have been categorised under economic, social, work-related and health-related issues.

In economic terms, the survey reflects that more than 99 per cent of the kite makers are women, out of which 23 per cent earn below Rs 400 a month, 56 per cent of the women earn between Rs 400 and Rs 800, 15 per cent of the women earn between Rs 800 and Rs 1,200, while only four per cent of the women earn Rs 1,200 and above.

In social terms, the survey reveals that the process of kite making mainly involves women rather than men and more than 37 per cent of the women kite makers belong to the age group of 26 to 35 years.

It says 45 per cent of the women are illiterate, while 99 per cent of the women feels that there is no social security.

Moreover, there is no law for these workers. Findings of the survey on work related issues reflects that 100 per cent of the workers are home based, 79 per cent of the workers obtain the work from the employer, while the rest of them obtain work from the contractors and the sub-contractors.

No women is involved in cutting, only 0.6 per cent of the women are involved in design sticking, 15.4 per cent of the women are involved in sticking threads on all the four sides, 41.1 per cent of the women are involved in making the middle stick and the tail, 9 per cent of the women are involved in making the bottom triangle, while 27 per cent of the women are engaged in making the are and 6.9 per cent of the women are engaged in making the side folds.

Health-related issues of the survey reflects that more than 47 per cent of the workers suffer from backache due to continuous sitting, while more than 37 per cent of them suffer from pain in hands and legs due to constants movements.

It said 95 per cent of the women's health is affected due to kite making.

After the survey, Sewa recommends research on occupational health of the workers, workshed allotment to the workers, introduction of welfare and social security schemes for the workers, increase in the wages and the quality of life of the workers and strengthening of socio economic conditions.