Sari makers fight for their lives - 20th May 2022

This city is Varanasi, in India. It's famous for its beautiful saris. Saris are women's dresses. Now, there aren't many sari makers. And their life isn't easy. Machines and cheap clothes are killing their business.

Mohammad Sirajuddin makes saris. His father and grandfather did too. He's afraid he'll be the last one.

Mohammad Sirajuddin: "Our production of handloom Banarasi saris has come down significantly. If you walk around this whole neighbourhood and look, you'll see that this is the only house with a handloom unit. Even this will be here only as long as I am alive. After that, nobody in this house will continue hand weaving."

The Varanasi saris are expensive. Each sari can cost $400. But the makers receive little money.

Varanasi saris are a tradition here. Jaya Jaitly knows a lot about them. She says these workers need the government's help. Saris are part of life in India.

Jaya Jaitly: "But I do still believe very strongly that the handloom must be supported because we have the largest number of varieties of handloom, techniques, skills and people employed more than anywhere else in the world. And I think that's truly a tradition to be proud of. No other country in the world can claim the variety of handmade textiles that India has."

The Indian clothes business had problems in the past too. In the 18th century, England sent cheap cloth to India. In the 20th century, China did the same.

But for Jaitly, these saris and sari makers are special.

Jaya Jaitly: "So all of these were thriving industries. It got killed through mechanisation and even more so through Chinese competition and their push and their ability to produce huge quantities at very low prices. Now the economics works but the humanity doesn't work, the culture doesn't work, livelihoods don't work."