Factors Influencing Wage Structure of Handloom Workers in Assam

The removal of import quota restriction for textile products opened up new avenues and challenges for the Indian handloom industry, which infused competition in recent years. As majority of the workers in the industry are women, who work mostly as weavers, reelers and helpers, such competition often influences the nature and pattern of earnings of women workers. Therefore, the present study attempts to analyse the factors influencing the wage structure of the handloom industry from a gender perspective. It examines the wage differential with respect to gender as well as type of work the workers are entrusted with. The study is based on primary data collected from 300 respondents in 13 districts in Assam. Multiple regression technique is used to analyse the data. The results show that in case of contractual workers, there is no gender discrimination in wages, whereas it is found in case of monthly rated workers. Productivity of the workers is found to be significant both for monthly rated as well as contractual workers. Factors like education and experience do not have any significant influence on the wage structure of the workers in the handloom industry in Assam. Thus, the government machinery should address the gender wage discrimination for monthly rated weavers and reelers, and back up support facilities for contractual workers of the industry in the State. The present study greatly extends our understanding of the wage earnings scenario in Assam's handloom sector from gender perspective.