Summary of "A Shirt in the Market"
This chapter tells the story of a shirt, starting from how cotton is grown and ending with how the shirt is sold in a store. It explains how different people are involved in making a shirt and how some people earn more money than others in this process.
The Cotton Farmer – Swapna’s Struggle
Swapna is a small farmer from Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh. She grows cotton on her land. Since farming cotton is expensive, she takes a loan of ₹2,500 from a trader. The trader gives her the money but makes her promise to sell all her cotton only to him.
When Swapna finally sells her cotton, she expects a good price. However, the trader tells her that there is too much cotton in the market, so the price is low. He buys the cotton from her at ₹1,500 per quintal, and after cutting her loan repayment, Swapna gets only ₹3,000. Even though she worked very hard, she earns very little.
The Weavers and the Cloth Market
The cotton is sent to factories where it is turned into yarn. The yarn is then sent to weavers, who make cloth. In Tamil Nadu, there is a big cloth market in Erode. Many weavers bring their cloth here to sell. But these weavers do not work for themselves. They work under a system called the "putting-out system."
In this system, merchants give them yarn and tell them what kind of cloth to make. The weavers weave the cloth at home using power looms. They then give the finished cloth back to the merchant. The merchant sells it to big garment factories. Because the weavers depend on the merchants for yarn and money, they get very little payment for their hard work.
The Garment Factory and the Export Market
The cloth from Erode is sent to a garment factory near Delhi. Here, workers turn the cloth into shirts. Most workers in these factories are women, and they are paid very little. For example:
- A tailor earns ₹3,000 per month.
- A woman cutting thread earns only ₹1,500 per month.
The garment exporter sells these shirts to businesspeople in foreign countries like the USA. These foreign buyers set strict rules. They want the shirts to be very cheap and of high quality. To meet these demands, factory owners pay their workers less.
The Shirt in the Supermarket
The shirts are sent to big stores in the USA. A store owner buys each shirt from the factory for ₹300. He spends ₹400 on advertising, ₹200 on storage, and finally sells the shirt for ₹1,800. This means he makes a huge profit of ₹900 per shirt!
Who Earns the Most?
The story shows that not everyone earns the same amount.
- Cotton farmers like Swapna earn very little.
- Weavers work long hours but get low wages.
- Factory workers also earn less.
- Merchants and exporters earn more than farmers and weavers.
- Big business owners in the USA earn the most profit.
The chapter teaches us that markets are not always fair. Rich and powerful people make the most money, while small farmers and workers struggle to earn enough to survive.
~~The END~~
Chapter 8 A Shirt in the Market Summary NCERT Solution
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