While some of the best handicraft, handloom and textile work comes from India and are sold in the biggest of markets, the labourers who essentially create the products are paid peanuts. In a recent picture, of Duchess of Sussex was pictured holding baby Archie at the King Power Royal Charity Polo Day this month, the little one can be seen wrapped in a £33(2,765.47 Indian Rupee)Erawan Cotton Dohar, a traditional Indian summer blanket. However, a recent exclusive revelation about how much the labourer who made the blanket get paid as per MailOnline team has us stunned! According to their exclusive reports, the blanket is made in a factory in Bagru which is a humble town an hour away from Jaipur, Rajasthan and "workers there earn 6,000 rupees per month for a 48 hour week" the equivalent of 37 pence per hour." which comes to roughly Rs 200 per day. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry to Choose Barack and Michelle Obama as Prince Archie’s Godparents and Not Clooneys?
But how did the dohar blanket reach Meghan Markle? According to the reports, the piece of textile made at the factory whose workers are paid so less is actually sold by a Hong Kong-based brand called Malabar Baby. They specialise in organic baby clothes and accessories for affluent mothers. So the blanket manufactured by a textile company Nayika that has the factory in Bagru is sold to affluent people like Meghan Markle via Malabar Baby.
The team did an exclusive visit to the factory and spoke to their workers. While talking to one of the labourers, Aruna Regar, they mentioned that she almost "fainted with shock when she learned how much the blanket retails for around the world." She said to the Mail Online team, "The blanket almost costs what I earn in two weeks and that's difficult for me to believe. We struggle to make ends meet and life is very difficult for us. Our conditions in the factory are good and we are not treated badly."
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 30, 2019 06:27 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).