On the occasion of Women’s Day on March 8, 2020, the Truetzschler team visited some textile mills for a first-hand observation of how women fare on the production floor and in other departments. It indeed turned out to be an inspiring study
The first Women’s Day was celebrated in 1909 in the US where this observance was termed as National Women’s Day. It was in 1975 when the UN officially proclaimed March 8 as International Women’s Day. However, women across the globe are still working towards establishing gender equality. Though this evolving international agreement of stopping discrimination on the basis of gender has become more acceptable, change has remained very slow to mark a significant difference in the lives of women who face the fiercest forms of suppression. “The latest figures show the global gender gap narrowed slightly to 68.6%. But gender equality is still almost a century away at the current pace of change,” states a report by the World Economic Forum.
Not to one’s surprise, there is not even a single country that can claim to have achieved total gender equality. The laws are supportive for women, but there still are multiple obstacles, especially cultural and patriarchal which block the road to women empowerment. A rising aspect of gender equality is equal pay for equal work. Women worldwide are underemployed and sadly they also have limited career options. Those who manage to break the shackles of narrow-mindedness and step out of the virtual barricade often struggle to gain respect and acknowledgement for their work.
Economic inclusion and education have helped women come a long way, yet there are not many women in positions of power. Women, even today, face multiple forms of violence at home and in public owing to the widespread misogyny. The theme for International Women’s Day on March 8, 2020 – I am Generation Equality: Realising Women’s Rights – was aimed at bringing in different generations to collectively tackle the challenges to gender equality. Women empowerment and gender equality are particularly important for industries as standing up against the malpractices and working towards equality is a win-win situation for every organisation.
Still, there are not many business groups that are dedicated to bring about this change. Sitting on the fence and supporting the cause without taking action is support in no form. Now is the time to pick up the torch and march ahead! As a company working with the spinning industry – predominantly considered a men’s only arena – we visited several spinning mills in India to find out where we actually stand on the grounds of gender equality, and in the process discovered quite a few gems. We were also glad to know there are people who are earnestly willing and working to provide women the rights and respect they deserve.
KPR Mills
KPR Mills, known for its superior quality yarns, is located 23 km east of Coimbatore in South India. This unit has 84 high-production Truetzschler cards. Well carded is half spun and the settings and maintenance of these cards surely contribute to the quality of yarn manufactured by KPR Mills. Ms. A. Elakkiya, a 22-year-old cheerful young girl, is responsible for doing all the settings of these 84 cards. She has been working at KPR Mills for the past four years and is very comfortable with Truetzschler carding machines owing to their ease of doing gauges and the safety aspects of the machines.
She is ably assisted in these duties by Ms. K. Chitra who has also been employed here since the past four years. Coming from a very humble village background, both the girls have thoroughly mastered the latest German carding technology. KPR Mills’ management also has a major role to play in their success by providing them good hostel facility, learning opportunities and a safe working environment. Elakkiya is the first and perhaps the only forewomen of the Indian spinning industry. In a message to other women, both the girls said that they would continue to work even after their marriage and all women should develop their own skills to compete with men.
Vardhman Group
The Vardhman Group believes and strives to achieve excellence through a culture of innovation and continuous improvement and is committed to investing in the business with initiatives directed at long-term sustainability. Their unit, Vardhman Yarns, is located 30 km south of Bhopal in central India with women forming a considerable part of the workforce. One of them is Ms. Vidhi Raghuvanshi who graduated in textiles technology with honours from Shri Vaishnav Institute of Technology and Science, Indore, in 2015. She has been a part of the production process at Vardhman Yarns since the beginning of her career.
Hitherto, it was a man’s speciality to allocate labour, dedicate machines as per the spin plan, count pattern and the production requirements received from the management. It was challenging for her at first to manage staff and machines besides achieving daily targets. However, with the support of seniors, now she not only performs her duties well, but also confidently works in the night shifts. Another such gem is Ms. Priya Kumari who has a degree in textile technology from NITRA Technical Campus, Ghaziabad. She has recently joined the production department and is well-versed with Truetzschler machines as also others, including ring frames. Both Raghuvanshi and Kumari dream to be a part of the higher management of Vardhman Yarns and someday lead a team independently.
Expressing her opinion on gender equality, Raghuvanshi said: “The efforts to empower women transform into an endeavour to develop the entire nation. An independent women raises empowered children who build an open-minded next generation dedicated to reform the society.”
Ms. Shivani Agarwal is a postgraduate from IIT Delhi and is currently working in the research and development department of Vardhman Yarns, which she joined in July 2019. She studies the effect of changing parameters and settings on Truetzschler cards on the product quality, including waste and the outcome of maximum yarn realisation at best quality norms.
Agarwal said: “Women who are in a position to bring about a change must act as a mentor to other women and try to change the stereotype mentality prevalent in our country.”
Ms. Aarti Bangde with a degree in textile technology has been associated with Vardhman Yarns from 2015 and started her career in the production department after being selected through a campus interview. She is now working in the Learning and Development Department and eagerly interacts with other women coming from rural backgrounds.
She is also a part of the PACE (Personal Advancement and Career Enhancement) program wherein training is provided to women via different modules, including communication skills, problem-solving, decision-making, stress management, financial literacy, etc. About 200 women workers on the campus have undergone this specialised training that enhances skills, builds self-confidence and develops their personality. Bangde feels delighted as she can, even in these initial years of her career, contribute to society and help transform the lives of several women.
Shri Cheran Synthetics
Shri Cheran Synthetics is part of the Pallava Group. Their units are at Veppadai, 120 km east of Coimbatore. Over the past 40 years the group has built up a reputation for reliability, integrity and reverence in the spinning and weaving industry. Initially focussing on the high-end fashion fabric industry, now the same is made available to the masses which is a revolution created by modern-day brands. Here, Ms. S. Deepika, a 24-year-old diploma holder in textile technology from the reputed SSM College, has been working in the Quality Control Department since the past six years. Her father and mother work in a nearby weaving unit while her brother is pursuing a costume designing course.
One of her responsibilities is to check the hank, CV percentage, Uster percentage, thick spots, trash and neps in the card sliver. Over the years she has developed so much confidence using Truetzschler technology that the values shown on the card commander and those depicted on the latest MAG testing equipment in their laboratory are the same. She has a dream to start a business for her father. On asked which cards she would prefer if she were to start a spinning mill, she smilingly replied: “Obviously Truetzschler.”
Commenting on what women empowerment means for her, she said: “All women are special and we should not compare working and non-working women. Every woman is a role model and contributes to society in her own special way.”
Purani Textile
Purani Textile is a very small mill on the outskirts of Coimbatore city. Ms. N. Poornima who holds a degree in engineering and an MBA, assists her father in handling the day-to-day activities of the mill, which she has been doing for the past one year. She is confident that soon she will take over the reins of the entire mill in her hand and be a role model as to how to successfully run a textile mill. In the same mill is Ms. S. Subbulaxmi who has an engineering degree in computer science and works in the Quality Control Department. She aspires to be a textile technologist. Meanwhile, coming from an entirely different background, Ms. P. Devi Priya works in the carding department as a tenter. She has done an ITI course in electrical engineering. Her mother and father work as daily labourers at different places and she has two brothers and one sister in the family. In spite of this penurious situation, Priya wants to do higher studies and get a government job.
Truetzschler
With so many entities making an effort, how can Truetzschler lag behind in women empowerment! At the Truetzschler factory in Ahmedabad, the scenario is upbeat as the management has recruited many women candidates based purely on their educational qualifications and thereby pushing aside the traditional gender bias. Ms. Pooja Patel who has a degree in mechanical engineering has been working in the Truetzschler Training Centre, where she imparts training to young persons from rural backgrounds. The courses include CNC and welding operations and fitter mechanical assembly. The courses last for one year wherein the candidates are also given training in soft skills development. This course is totally free and a stipend of Rs. 6,000 per month is also given to the students. Till now about 30 students have been absorbed in the Truetzschler factory.
Ms. Krishna Patel, who has a degree in mechanical engineering, started to work in the production department from 2017 and today works in the Quality Assurance Department. She is happy to have proved her mettle in the manufacturing unit. She feels that women and men should not be compared as they are both individual entities. She is proud about the fact that her parents supported her to realise her ambitions. Ms. Varsha Jamkhedkar with a post-graduation in textile technology is the mother of a child and has been working in the Project Engineering Department for the past two years, She helps in preparing layouts for customers with various count patterns and multiple raw material components.
She acknowledges the support given to all women employees by the Truetzschler management that helps them in carrying out their duties in a safe and healthy environment. In their message on Women’s Day, the women said: “Salute to all women who are a symbol of bravery and excellence.” Truetzschler’s Coimbatore service station caters to about more than 1,000 spinning mills in South India. All generations of carding machines have been running in the region. An important activity of this service station is to repair the highly sophisticated PCBs in a short time so that the downtime is kept to a minimum.
The mother of a four-year-old daughter and a diploma holder in electronics, Ms. M. Kabinaya is responsible for this very important after-sales activity. Proficiently trained at Truetzschler, Ahmedabad, she is well-versed with all the PCBs and their servicing. She has been working here since the past seven years and has gained the confidence all their customers. On the occasion of Women’s Day, she said: “All women should follow their passion and not leave it for any reason.” Since the beginning of mankind, or rather womankind, not withholding themselves by the constraints of poverty, deep-rooted social bias and stiff opposition from their own families, women have always pushed their limits and boundaries!
As the Truetzschler management puts it, “The one quality women have passed down from generation to generation is being persistent. Many of the women mentioned above may not be ‘big’ achievers in that sense but for us they are the ‘super heroines’ who directly or indirectly contribute to our success. We are certain there are many other unsung heroines out there whose voice is yet not heard; we applaud their contribution too. As a conscientious citizen of the corporate society, Truetzschler salutes all the women and pledges to take honest efforts to make a gender-balanced world on this planet.”