By the Department of Labor’s own study, child labor in India is a non-problem. Combining household child labor not living with their parents (148), and factory child labor not living with their parents (270), creates an at-risk population for the handmade rug industry of (418) children under the age of 18, according to a major study paid for by the US Department of Labor covering the years 2009-2011...

I have never seen a happier bunch of school children, ever. They wanted to learn. They were smiling. I visited three schools and saw...

According to Steve Cibor, principal Tamarian Rugs, "Once you scan the label for a specific rug, it will take you to the stock page which will show you what we have in stock in that particular rug design. You can click on the name of the rug "Planke Raindance" and an image of the rug will come up. You can also click on "Production Details" which will produce detailed information and photos of the weavers that worked on the actual rug."

In this beautifully illustrated article in The Atlantic, the origins of the social entrepreneurship approach to rug making are described.

Rug News andDesign featured Mr. and Mrs. N.K. Chaudhary in the article Jaipur Rugs – 40,000 workers, 32,000 women from July 2011, detailing their contributions to empowering women and "giving dignity to the weavers."

On the eve of World Day Against Child Labour (June 12, 2013), Toronto-based fair trade design firm Creative Matters announced that it will celebrate its 25th anniversary year by mounting The Art Day Project to “celebrate and demystify the art of rug design and fair trade weaving.” Creative Matters designers will use artwork created by workshop participants as inspiration for several original rug designs which will be entered into the firm’s first-ever Art Day competition.

 
Rug News andDesign has found that an increasing number of rug companies are embracing social responsibility at the manufacturing level, wholesaling level and retail level.

Joe Barkley from Kaleen sent us and a lot of other media outlets a press release announcing their certification to SA8000®. “I believe this to be the single most important honor a manufacturer should strive to receive and we are extremely proud of the recognition of over forty years of achievement for our manufacture team and the dedication and commitment of the Rathi Family”, said Joe Barkley, Executive Vice President of Kaleen, “Kaleen’s social commitment has been a primary focus since Mr. Rathi started the company in 1964.”

Social Responsibility: Our friends at Social Accountability International (SA8000) sent us this link to an International Labor Organization (ILO-NGO) video called "Fighting Child Labour in India's Carpet Industry" (April 2012).

Excellent video on rug making, produced and filmed in Afghanistan by Label-Step a fair trade (NGO) organization. Look at the dresses of the women. Early in the video is a good close-up of women tying a symmetrical knot typical of Afghan weaving.

Jaipur Rugs Foundation (JRF) is a not-for-profit organization, registered under the Public Trust Act. Since its inception in 2004, JRF has been at the...