FOR GOOD OF THE WORLD

During seventies and eighties the Indian handmade carpet industry had a sizzling pace of growth. Massive demand for carpets from western shores outpaced the supply owing to shortage of weavers. Resultant there was huge influx of labor from the neighboring states and to exploit the opportunity extensively, child labor too was brought in droves.

Thanks to a few activists, this horrifying reality came into light in the later part of the eighties. The terrible news got wings and spread like wild fire which reached to countries of the West which were the chief consumers of this craft. There, carpet importers became wary and as a precautionary measure started asking for declaration announcing that the carpets being exported from India are free from child labor. But the damage has already been done. The industry’s growth which grew at a fast clip slowed down simply because magic of media reached even to consumers who avoided buying handmade Indian carpets.

IKEA, a Sweden based multinational, which bought Indian rugs in great quantities, found itself in a tight spot. At one juncture it was about to stop sourcing carpets from India but good sense prevailed and it decided to bring discipline into its Indian suppliers. Thus I-Way (Ikea-Way) came into existence which required that its suppliers, in time, should follow the norms set in its I-Way – norms which required abide by not only tenets spelled in its I-Way but also necessitated adherence to Indian labor law.

No doubt, besides Ikea, there are many non-profit organizations (NGOs) who are working for the elimination and rehabilitation of child labor of this industry. But the greatest catalyst of them all, I believe, was I-Way, which was very effective in, at least, making the general public aware of the abuse and making the Indian carpet dealers’ observant with the vulnerability to the trade from this immoral practice.

Undeniably I-Way and other NGOs contributed considerably to fight the abuse of child labor from this industry but still it needs many more such schemes to wipe out this exploitation from its root.

Ennworld – a non-profit – also intends to take a little step in this direction though with a different approach. Ennworld believes that the real problem lies in the old age tradition or cast system where people find no harm in employing child labor or forced labor. Ennworld intends to change this culture.

Of course no community would ever like any interference with their culture. Still, we at Ennworld believe that it can be transformed. Not by managing their culture but by focusing on values of life – values that are caring, sharing and sensitive to social mores – that are accepted universally.

The idea is to adopt village/s and purge it from child labor and develop it into a green, clean, healthy and pollution-free place that ensure that no child is left without education and people are treated with humane touch. To achieve that objective we will need to awaken the consciousness of ordinary citizens and involve them by stirring their conscience in this mission. I am certain many will gladly volunteer to take part in this objective.

They say ‘High touch is high tech’ and we feel that we are ready take on that tech.

NAI BAZAR, a suburban town we breathe in, will be our focal point. This will be an experimental case too that, we hope, will facilitate us to give a shape to our future course of action.

The notion requires an approach that is holistic. And the idea that comes to the fore is that we need to work not only against child labor caught up in this unfriendly cottage industry but also strive for all round development of towns/villages of this region. That necessitates an intimates relation with carpet manufacturers – a relation that, we believe, help communicate values of life with them and ultimately with populace at large. The intent is to awaken their intrinsic human nature and stir them up for doing some common good. To achieve that objective it requires for a policy that ensures good business relation with them.

That makes it obvious that only charities won’t serve our purpose. Hence we, in alliance with Aafriiinz seek business not contribution – business that will help a continual relation with carpet manufacturers through whom goodwill message can be passed through the populace, effectively

Tsunami, Katrina, PoK earth quake and other natural catastrophes has taught us that we human beings are a part of a whole and living in isolation is meaningless. No living soul on this earth need to be neglected. All deserve a decent life. So does the underprivileged children of carpet industry.

United Nation, Worldwatch Institute, Greenpeace, and many other NGOs sending out warning signal to nations whose industries are generating enormous pollution and causing miseries to millions. We will be promoting products the manufacturing processes of which release least pollution in the environment.

In mindless pursuit of wealth, the world has become indifferent to the environmental riches and values of life. Our effort will be to impart these values among the people.

To make our mission a success, we wish that our audience be a part of the solution of the problems facing the Indian carpet industry. That will help us achieve our objective efficiently.