Carpet workers are one of the poorest people coming from the most backward communities in the country. There are few literate carpet workers. As they live and work within carpet factory premises, that is their world. As they work on job contract basis most of the time over 16 hours a day to earn a meagre wage of about Rs. 2,000 a month, they have little time and money to go out of the factories.

This situation has created a big pool of people with homogenous orientation (or lack of orientation) living and continuously working, most of the time, from their childhood, in a confined world. The monotonous and boring work of carpet weaving, spinning, etc., make the minds dull. Everybody’s struggle becomes only for subsistence and that too for today. This situation leaves the workers utterly unaware of basic information and ideas on issues like child rights, value of education, family planning, girl trafficking, HIV/AIDS, health, nutrition, sanitation, etc.

In this context, the foundation has developed and implemented an awareness programme for carpet workers in factories under RUGMARK Licence. The topics being covered during these programmes can be broadly divided into 3 groups, as follows:

  -Child rights, including education and gender issue.

  -Family planning, girl trafficking, HIV AIDS and STD.

Health, nutrition, sanitation and working environment.
A two to three hours presentation is made in a factory or a group of small factories, for 2 days within a week for each broad groups of topics. Appropriate printed or audio/visual materials and if needed, resource persons are used. This programme basically covers the carpet workers and their families.

Given the foundation’s capability and resource availability, these components of preventive programmes in carpet factories are thought to be practical and effective. However, there will be continuous improvement and expansion in the programme in future.