Asia Pakistani Textile Workers Among Most Poorly Paid - Survey

A Zurich-based international textile consultant body has carried out a detailed study of the textile industry of six countries - India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Indonesia - to find out their potential and tenacity to withstand operations of WTO rules in the year 2005.

Contrary to general belief, a textile worker in Pakistan is paid much less than the average textile employee in India and China. In India, the average per hour earning of a textile worker has been
estimated at 50.18 cents as against 57.03 cents an hour being earned by a Chinese textile worker. But a Pakistani worker in textile gets only 38.79 cents an hour. Textile workers in Sri Lanka get only 37.04 cents an hour, and Indonesian worker is given 43.33 cents. A textile worker in Bangladesh earns only 22.68 cents an hour.

Day in and day out, textile tycoons in Pakistan miss no opportunity to blame their workers for being over paid, undisciplined and less productive. In the last more than two decades, laws protecting labour rights have been rendered ineffective and legal financial benefits have been denied to workers in Pakistan, which make them lowest paid in the region.

Textile industry in Pakistan runs almost entirely on contract labour system where hardly any social security benefits are given to the
workers. Labour wages calculated in textile industries of these six countries include all benefits. Obviously workers in China and India get more benefits then their counterparts in Pakistan and Bangladesh where military and quasi democratic governments have remained all supportive to the textile tycoons.

The Export Promotion Bureau is developing a data bank on all the
relevant areas of textile industry to keep the local industry updated on situation in the competitive countries.

According to this study, Indian textile industry suffers from highest electric power cost in the region. It founds electric power cost in
India at 8.87 cents per kWh as against 6.57 cents per kWh in Pakistan and even lower at 6.04 cents per kWh in China. With 7.78 cents per kWh Sri Lanka is somewhat nearer to India in power cost. But Bangladesh enjoys the minimum power cost at 3.49 cents per kWh and Indonesia at 3.65 cents per kWh.

Although no facts are available to show as to why electric power is costly in India. Businessmen in Karachi attribute it to massive line and transmission losses, particularly in northern and western India where it is estimated at over 50 per cent of generation. Secondly, the bulk of Indian power generation is said to be fuel based. In China, coal is widely used in power generation.

Since electric power supply is costly in India, steam generation cost is also highest in Indian textile industry, which renders its products uncompetitive in the export market. Indian textile industry is found to generate one kilogramme of steam at 1.96 cents as against 0.58 cents in China, 1.41 in Pakistan, 1.52 cents in Sri Lanka, 0.78 in Bangladesh and 0.73 cents in Indonesia.

India rightly boasts of having oldest textile industry in the region.
Previous investment in spinning made India a big yarn exporter in the world. But with emergence of new players, notably China, Pakistan and Indonesia, the role of India in yarn export got somewhat diminished.

With fresh investment in spinning, over 11 million ring spinning
spindles out of total of 38.57, about 29 per cent are found to be less than 10 years old in the year 2001. It means that 71 per cent installed spindles are quite aged and their productivity is relatively low.

But in Pakistan, where reports are that $1.5 billion to $2 billion
investment has been made in textiles in the last three years and bulk of it has come in spinning, the consultants found only 1.47 million spindles out of total of 9.04 million spindles less than 10 years old in the year 2001. It means that in the year 2001 only 16 per cent spindles were of less than 10 years and 84 per cent were older.

A lot of investment is being made in China where in 2001 13.41 million spindles or 38 per cent of the total 35.04 million installed were found to be less than ten years old.

Market reports suggest that quite a few Pakistani business groups are in negotiations with American and European textile investors, who want relocation of industry. The government has given in next year's budget incentives for import of reconditioned machinery.

But India has edge over all other countries when it comes to
installation of open end spinning rotors. The consultants counted 162,000 out of 457,000 or 35 per cent of total installed rotors below 10 years. Pakistan had only 8,600 rotors of less than 10 years installed in the year 2001. China has more than 208,000 new rotors. Experts say that this was another area where Pakistani textile investors have to pay attention.