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It`s more weave and less school for the children: The Pioneer
Balmer, May 24: The vast expanse of sand dunes - as far as the eyes can see - is an inspiration for 15-year-old Khangaram as he sits on his weaving machine through the day making patterns on wool. He quit school after studying till the third grade and has been on the job for couple of years.
Balmer, May 24: The vast expanse of sand dunes - as far as the eyes can see - is an inspiration for 15-year-old Khangaram as he sits on his weaving machine through the day making patterns on wool. He quit school after studying till the third grade and has been on the job for couple of years.
In another set of hutments nearby, called Dhani, four little girls between the ages three and eight start their day with filling water from a hand-pump about a kilometre away. The school is not far from the Meghwal Dhani at Dhanau in Balmer, but they are taking lessons in needlework from their grandmother. The eldest one went to school for five days and called it off.
Scarce water and meagre irrigation gave way to other livelihood resources like handicrafts and embroidery. Recurrent drought is pushing the weavers of Rajasthan to increase their productivity.
It is not that development has not yet reached the hinterland. A pipeline through the dunes makes it possible for some of the weavers to take up bajra and jeera cultivation. The school is about a kilometre away, but seems unable to keep students. With the drought gets serious, people are finding it difficult to make ends meet. Children, they think, would be better off learning the trade than going to school. Handicraft work is not a paucity. Agents make rounds of these inaccessible terrain once a week, providing raw material to the dhani and collecting the finished goods. "I get Rs 70 per day for the weaving a shawl, that take about three days to finish," says Khangaram. What is not easily revealed is that children of Khangaram's age hardly play. They spend most of their day weaving. Girls too don't play at all - they help in housework or tend to the cattle of the family. The State Government has a special scheme for the weavers to start their own enterprise and earn better it is much easier for them to do jobs for agents.
In another set of hutments nearby, called Dhani, four little girls between the ages three and eight start their day with filling water from a hand-pump about a kilometre away. The school is not far from the Meghwal Dhani at Dhanau in Balmer, but they are taking lessons in needlework from their grandmother. The eldest one went to school for five days and called it off.
Scarce water and meagre irrigation gave way to other livelihood resources like handicrafts and embroidery. Recurrent drought is pushing the weavers of Rajasthan to increase their productivity.
It is not that development has not yet reached the hinterland. A pipeline through the dunes makes it possible for some of the weavers to take up bajra and jeera cultivation. The school is about a kilometre away, but seems unable to keep students. With the drought gets serious, people are finding it difficult to make ends meet. Children, they think, would be better off learning the trade than going to school. Handicraft work is not a paucity. Agents make rounds of these inaccessible terrain once a week, providing raw material to the dhani and collecting the finished goods. "I get Rs 70 per day for the weaving a shawl, that take about three days to finish," says Khangaram. What is not easily revealed is that children of Khangaram's age hardly play. They spend most of their day weaving. Girls too don't play at all - they help in housework or tend to the cattle of the family. The State Government has a special scheme for the weavers to start their own enterprise and earn better it is much easier for them to do jobs for agents.