Cottage emporium’s workers protest over late dues, no raises

Employees of the decades-old Central Cottage Industries Corporation (CCIC) emporium at Janpath said despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s praise for India’s “booming” indigenous crafts industry, they are battling issues like delayed wages, lack of appraisals, and no allowances.

“Employees who have been working here for over 20 years have not seen an appraisal in close to a decade. The last appraisal they got was in 2007, which was implemented in 2010. After that, despite skyrocketing inflation, there has been no increment in salaries,” Rakesh Kumar, a union leader at the store told The Hindu.

An employee, Balakrishnan Raju, who donned a paper badge that read “We are on protest”, said that while the company earlier gave several allowances, now, employees don’t even get a travel or uniform allowance to cover basic costs.

“Contractual workers here who have less experience get paid ₹30,000 or more, while those of us who have been working here for decades get only about ₹18,000. How can one manage with this pay when even basic necessities have become so expensive,” sighed Mr. Raju.

However, countering the employees’ allegations, Manoj Lal, managing director of the Central Cottage Industries Corporation of India Ltd. (which runs the store), said the company has been at a loss since the pandemic hit, and giving employees a raise is out of the question until the store resumes making profit.

Delayed payments

Another employee remarked that multiple small-scale artisans whose livelihoods depend on the Textile Ministry’s support have been “crushed” by the government’s delayed payments. “Some craftspersons have not received their payments for the last three or four years, and as a result, have not been able to procure raw material to make new products. This has affected their earnings considerably,” he said on condition of anonymity.

Mr. Kumar added that to fill the vacuum left behind by these artisans who are now unable to supply their products, the company has begun sourcing from middlemen vendors, thereby defeating the purpose of a cottage emporium that was formed to support small-scare indigenous craftspersons.

But Mr. Lal, alleging that the workers have “no understanding” of the government’s systems, said, “The artisans who supplied products right before the pandemic hit have not yet received their payments as the company was entirely dependent on physical sales at that time and has been a loss-making company ever since. Until we start making profit, the old dues cannot be paid.”

Moreover, the workers told The Hindu that the government may be planning to shut down the establishment, like how closed the Mumbai store, too. “There has been no support from the Textile Department. Even after Textile Minister Piyush Goyal visited us, nothing has changed,” said an employee, who alleged that salaries are so delayed that they received their dues for November 2023 only in April this year.

Mr. Kumar also alleged that days before the Lok Sabha election in Delhi, he received a letter from the police asking him to stop the “nare-baazi” (sloganeering and striking). After the letter, the workers began donning the badges that proclaimed they were on protest.

Mr. Lal, however, said the workers are striking for “no reason”.