The simple solution to the Farmers/most sucides in India or world over is LOAN's...
In India inspite of the majority of people being Farmers and Farming being the most done job in India the Govt of India refuses to accept it as an Industry hence Banks or Legal financial Institutions refuse to give seed loans,assured seed/Fertilizer quality..hereby allowing the blood suckers viz:private money lenders to step in..they give spurious seeds,give money at 2% daily interest which is almost 730% interest rate to these Farmers..now anyone can understand why these Farmers would at the drop of the hat commit sucide..yes the men who supply the loans at inhuman rates are supported by the Govt indirectly or directly..the entire system runs by these goons..they would kill the farmers anyway..the humiliation the agony the farmers family would face would be horrible hence these men commit suicide at the drop of the hat..
Re: Simple!!
by varghese on Aug 15, 2011 09:34 AM
The Govt should end their honeymoon with such business communities who are virtually running this land since independence..if you look the Govt is rotting food grains nationwide stating different reasons but the fact remains the govt is playing with the wolves and partying with the Tigers! all at the cost of the majority who actually are being killed each day to keep the party!!
Unless the Govt recognizes that Farming is the most important occupation of this land and gives farmers its due role in nation building the entire land will have to bear its consequence by eternally calling itself the begging bowl of this world..whats the use of having the higest number of billionaires in the world when majority of its people are malnutritioned,living in sub-human conditions,forced to live without toilet facilities..
mere 5% of the population forcibly runs this land on the farce name of Democracy secularism..nice way to polish the tomb!
Re: Simple!!
by Apurva Kothari on Aug 17, 2011 10:53 AM
HI Varghese, you're absolutely right that it's the loans that are the problem! The primary reasons the farmers take loans are for buying Genetically Modified (GM) seeds that they are told will give them higher yields, and then for pesticides and fertilizers to protect these expensive seeds. Hence, the switch to organic farming (which doesn't allow GM seeds) is a step in the right direction.
Re: Looks more like
by rama anne on Aug 15, 2011 07:55 AM
I do not think it is correct man no need to see in tinted glasses people like you and me are very selfish but people like Kothari are better than us
Re: A struggling social entrepreneur!
by lycoming on Aug 14, 2011 11:56 PM
Agreed! hope finally his efforts do make some real changes in the farmers condition!!!
Re: A struggling social entrepreneur!
by Apurva Kothari on Aug 17, 2011 10:55 AM
thanks for your wishes Jayaram and Iycoming! Really appreciate it!
We are working on measuring our social impact in all this, and will be publishing that as well. We want to track how much of a difference we're making in all this as well as anyone else.
Re: We are proud of you
by Sheetal Kaur on Aug 15, 2011 01:54 AM
There is plenty of scope, even if you start a T shirt business, market is 1.5 billion customers. T_Shirts,Scarves,Soft Hats, there is plenty that could be manufactured,printed and sold. How about Anoraks,Gloves and Woolen socks,Woolen pullovers Woolen hats for winter. Indian Market is not saturated yet. there is plenty that you can do.
Re: We are proud of you
by Apurva Kothari on Aug 17, 2011 10:57 AM
Hi Okroal, there is a lot you can do, just as Sheetal said. Even if it's not completely solving all the problems, all steps taken in the right direction are helpful. Please feel free to reach out to me in case you want any info on this field.
Dear Readers, How many agree the title "The techie who quit his job to help poor farmers ",and the rest of the content ? This is more like a paid news , a cancer multipying diseace among media. I dont think any needy farmer has benefitted directly from this.
Re: Title and content Mismatch
by Apurva Kothari on Aug 12, 2011 10:48 AM
hey Srihari
I'm sorry you feel that way - sadly, I think we've all become so skeptical due to the corruption we see and the lies we hear in our country.
in any case, we are trying to be as open and transparent as we can be in our business, as you can see in this article where we've openly shared our supply chain, our certification partners, our finances, etc. But you decide what you'd like to believe or not.
i would like to mention though that this was definitely NOT paid news, and I feel bad that the author's (Abhishek Mande) integrity is questioned.
Re: Re: Title and content Mismatch
by Bond on Aug 14, 2011 01:30 AM
Except for answering 'Why did you choose to get into this line of business?', none of the other questions your answers even mention the farmers or their suicide. Its all related to your entrepreneurship and bloody ends with tips for entrepreneurs !!! Sorry to say this but definitely looks,sounds and reads like a surrogate article. -- Siddharth
Re: Re: Re: Title and content Mismatch
by Apurva Kothari on Aug 17, 2011 11:00 AM
That is true - the focus of this interview in the Get Ahead section wasn't about the farmer issue as it was about entrepreneurship. That is why most of the questions are focussed on that aspect.
Please feel free to google other articles and interviews that focus on the farmer issue - I would appreciate that as well as we want to create more awareness about it!
Re: Title and content Mismatch
by ashish anand on Aug 15, 2011 02:39 AM
There is certainly a diconnect between title and contents of the artcle. Even if, this is not surrogate article, the selection of title appears to have been influenced by eye-ball gathering considerations.
Re: .
by Jay on Aug 12, 2011 02:00 PM
haha... another ignorant person here! It's Sharad Pawar who controls everything and makes thousands of crores, whether it be cotton or brinjal! Most of the Govt. data on cultivation and procurement of crops are manipulated!
My suggestion to help farmers will be to make them aware of the market, which will eventually happen without yours or govts effort. Export is not a smart solution with such a huge consumer market here. Exorbitant money is made by agents of the crops.
The turquoise and black tshirts, featured in this article, generates loads of effluent during dyeing that are almost impossible to treat completely. Many dyeing factories in Tirupur (Tshirt capital of India) with OkeoTex, GOTS, IMO, SA8000 are closed for pollution. The remaining few factories do not commit these colors like other colors. If they dye these colors in bulk, they must be compromising the effluent treatment. Never mind any kind of certificates they may produce.
In most manufacturing businesses, either talk business or environment. If you talk both, either you are ignorant or a hypocrite.
Congratulations on your honest try. You look naive or innocent to conceive this business idea.
I'm a supplier of tshirts to GAP, Tommy Hilfiger, Pure Baby and more. Believe me, if you have no experience on field and are relying on suppliers, certifications of Organic Cotton and Fair Trade doesn't make sense. There is lot of hypocrisy in this business.
For example, your turquoise blue & black tshirts, featured in this article, generate loads of pollution, whose effluent are almost impossible to treat, irrespective of the certifications the dyes & chemicals carry. Such colors are getting colored in dyeing mills, where effluent is discharged unchecked. If you ask your dyer he will show some certificates. It's all crap. Many dyeing factories in Tirupur (Tshirt's capital of India) with Okeotex/Gots/IMO certificates are closed for pollution by High Court. Also, the remaining dyeing factories do not dye turquoise or black like any other color. For your information, White tshirts with Optical Brighteners cause pollution dyeing processing.
Frankly speaking, the developed countries will keep inventing certifications to promote their new found technologies. In textile business, you either talk business or environment. If you talk both, in my opinion, either you are ignorant or hypocrite.
Re: Honest, but Innocent Man - Apurva Kothari
by Apurva Kothari on Aug 12, 2011 02:21 AM
wow - strong words Jay! easy there:)
so our goal is to make more companies be sustainable on both the environment & the business front (and the social front too!). it's not easy but it's been done successfully and repeatedly- you have to make the effort to do it and find the right people to do it with. yes, we are probably naive if we only go by the certificates our suppliers show us, and we'll be conscious of that - thanks for the heads up.
and yes, the ideal scenario would be to only use natural herbal dyes and that is the exact path we started on when we began. however, these are not ready for mass market just yet - the colours don't last, they are not washing machine friendly, etc. the next best alternative is to use azo-free, non-toxic dyes like the ones we do. that choice allows us to cater to a larger market and take this movement forward with a lot more people. for now, it's a question of taking 5 steps forward with 1000 people or taking 2 steps forward with a million people.
we also visited tirupur and were not happy with what we say, so we decided to not work with the factories we saw there. it took us a while to decide our supply chain, and we're quite happy with the people we work with. if nothing else, their values are right - they are not in it for the money and are genuinely trying to make a difference.
as you're a supplier to eco-friendly brands yourself, i urge you to educate your customers & help fight the hypocrisy you mention.
Re: Honest, but Innocent Man - Apurva Kothari
by Apurva Kothari on Aug 12, 2011 02:22 AM
wow - strong words Jay! easy there:)
so our goal is to make more companies be sustainable on both the environment & the business front (and the social front too!). it's not easy but it's been done successfully and repeatedly- you have to make the effort to do it and find the right people to do it with. yes, we are probably naive if we only go by the certificates our suppliers show us, and we'll be conscious of that - thanks for the heads up.
and yes, the ideal scenario would be to only use natural herbal dyes and that is the exact path we started on when we began. however, these are not ready for mass market just yet - the colours don't last, they are not washing machine friendly, etc. the next best alternative is to use azo-free, non-toxic dyes like the ones we do. that choice allows us to cater to a larger market and take this movement forward with a lot more people. for now, it's a question of taking 5 steps forward with 1000 people or taking 2 steps forward with a million people.
we also visited tirupur and were not happy with what we say, so we decided to not work with the factories we saw there. it took us a while to decide our supply chain, and we're quite happy with the people we work with. if nothing else, their values are right - they are not in it for the money and are genuinely trying to make a difference.
as you're a supplier to eco-friendly brands yourself, i urge you to educate your customers & help fight the hypocrisy you mention.
Re: Re: Honest, but Innocent Man - Apurva Kothari
by Jay on Aug 12, 2011 01:46 PM
Sorry, if I offended you. I was trying to be blunt but definitely not harsh.
I honestly appreciate your efforts. All I'm saying is it's not as simple or even possible to achieve what you aspire for.
I employ more than 1000 people. Being socially responsible is relatively practical than being environmentally responsible.
FYI, Tirupur has invested more than Rs.1500 crores in Effluent Treatment. Because of the legal action by downstream farmers, the regulations are stricter (Zero Discharge) than any other textile producing countries. If your dyer is elsewhere, I'm sure they are nowhere near Tirupur in terms of Effluent Treatment. If they are in Gujarat, Govt. doesn't care much about pollution. If they are in Ludhiana/ Calcutta, they have perennial rivers to dilute into. If they still claim pollution-free, I can take it as a challenge to prove they are not. Be it be Alok, Arvind or Birla, it's the same story.
Azo-free dyes are in use in Tirupur since 1990s. European dye manufacturers periodically come up with these ploys once they find a new formulation. If you think the dyes used now are safe, wait for a decade and the same manufacturers will prove you wrong.
I also own a 8ton fabric/day dyeing factory and I've M.S (Textiles). I wonder if there is any "non-toxic dyes" in existance.
If you want to look clean, outsource and talk smart, like most western brands! There is not much sustainable products in western lifestyle (unnatural -colored products, definitely not)
Re: Re: Re: Honest, but Innocent Man - Apurva Kothari
by Apurva Kothari on Aug 17, 2011 11:14 AM
wow - you definitely to be in a very good position to make a real difference in this industry.
I hope you're making all the efforts to do the right things, and not just limiting yourself to offering advice on these boards.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Honest, but Innocent Man - Apurva Kothari
by Jay on Aug 17, 2011 08:49 PM
All I can do being a tshirt manufacturer is "Pollute as Less as Possible".
Re: Re: Re: Re: Honest, but Innocent Man - Apurva Kothari
by Jay on Aug 17, 2011 08:51 PM
All I can do being a tshirt manufacturer is "Pollute as Less as Possible"
Re: Re: Re: Re: Honest, but Innocent Man - Apurva Kothari
by Jay on Aug 17, 2011 08:56 PM
All I can do being a tshirt manufacturer is "Pollute as Less as Possible"... claiming Zero Pollution will be absurd. Even Zero Liquid Discharge in Tirupur, which is stringent than any other norm in the textile world, results in solid waste.
Our dyeing machines consume within 50 litres of water for 1 kg of fabric, which is half the industry standard.
