Pradeep Narayanan of Partners in Change introduces the idea behind Gethu ~ a garment workers’ think tank
The garment supply chain is vast – from cotton farming to stitching and packaging, the making of a ready-made garment involves a diverse range of skilled workers. We have been working across the supply chain of garment workers and are learning from them about the skills, techniques and science of making school uniforms. Over the period, a small group of 15 workers have formed a cohesive group. The group calls themselves Geth’u, which in Tamil means ‘proud’ or ‘hearty’. Incidentally, The workers named their group so to demonstrate the ‘power’ they have – because they are becoming a knowledge think-tank on the garment industry. There are probably a number of industry think tanks comprising academicians, employers and owners. Rarely, one may see a sector think tank with representation of workers across the supply chain from cotton to the stitching segment. They are, in that sense, geth’u!