CBSE Class 7 Social Science Political Science Revision Notes Chapter 8

CBSE Class 7 Political Science (Civics) Chapter 8 Notes – A Shirt In The Market

The CBSE Syllabus introduces Class 7 students to the production system with specific reference to Indian society. The chapter discusses how wealthy merchants and business tycoons mutually exploited poor farmers and weavers. An example of a shirt is given for the learners to understand how the real producers of the products live in extreme poverty, while the mill owners and businesspersons swell with wealth by reaping the harvest of their efforts.

Class 7 Political Science Chapter 8 Notes prepared by Extramarks give a gist of the chapter and explain every key topic in brief. These notes have been meticulously curated by subject matter experts and help students prepare for the exams. As these notes are prepared per CBSE guidelines, students can refer to these notes for a quick and effective revision of the entire chapter before the exams.

A Shirt in the Market Class 7 Political Science (Civics) Chapter 8 Notes

Access Class 7 Social Science Chapter 8 – A Shirt in the Market Notes

A Cotton Farmer in Kurnool

In the Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh, there lives a small farmer named Swapna. She grows cotton on a small tract of land and earns her livelihood by selling it. However, Swapna does not sell raw cotton on the market directly. Instead, she takes the cotton to the local trader.

Swapna and her husband cannot afford the expenses of cotton cultivation. So, they take a loan of Rs. 2,500 from a local trader at a high rate of interest. The trader helps them on the condition that Swapna would only sell her produce to him.

It takes hard work for several days to cultivate cotton. But Swapna has no option but to sell them at a low price to the local trader. In the end, she earns only 3,000 rupees.

The Cloth Market of Erode

The cloth market of Erode is a popular bi-weekly market in the state of Tamil Nadu and is considered one of the largest cloth markets in the world. There are many different types of cloth available. 

The local weavers of the nearby villages knit these clothes on receiving orders from the merchants who supply them to the manufacturers and exporters in the country.

The merchants purchase the yarn from other merchants and give it to the weavers, instructing them on what kind of cloth is to be produced. 

Putting-out System

The putting-out system is an agreement between the weavers and the merchants. In this kind of system, the weavers have no option but to sell their cloth to the merchants.

• Advantages 

• The weavers do not spend their money to buy yarn.
• They do not have to worry about selling the cloth in the market as the merchants agree to buy them according to the contract.

• Disadvantages

• The weavers always depend on the merchants for the raw material and the market. Their vulnerable position makes the merchants powerful.
• The weavers do not get fair wages.
• The market mechanism does not work in favour of the original producers, that is, the weavers. The merchants supply the raw materials to weavers to get finished products from them at a lower cost.

The merchants sell the cloth to exporters or manufacturers, who produce shirts from the cloth. They further export the shirts to foreign buyers in the USA and Europe. They are usually businessmen who run a chain of stores and are fixed in their terms.

• They demand supply at a lower rate.
• They set very high standards for the finished products.
• Any kind of delay in delivery or defect in products is dealt with severity.

These shirts are sold in the US market in different shops at different prices.

Market and Equality

Foreign business owners make the maximum profit in the entire process when compared to exporters who make a moderate profit. However, factory workers are paid less. They hardly make enough money to pay for their everyday expenses.

When compared to weavers, merchants or traders made good money, but significantly less than exporters. Therefore, everyone does not get the same profit in the market. Those who are wealthy and powerful earn the maximum profit in the market.

The poor cotton farmers, cloth weavers, and factory workers never get a fair share and are always marginalised in the entire process of production. Forming cooperatives could be a possible solution to uplift the socio-economic condition of these poor people. In the state of Tamil Nadu, there are many weavers’ cooperatives where people of common interest come together and work for mutual benefit. These associations buy yarn from the dealers and distribute it among the poor weavers. These co-operatives have also taken the responsibility of selling the finished clothes to help the weavers get a fair price in the market.

The Tamil Nadu government also helps these cooperatives by purchasing the weavers’ clothes from them and selling them through stores known as Co-optex. In addition to that, the state government also gives them contracts to weave clothes for various welfare schemes. The Free School Uniform Programme is one such government scheme that helps poor weavers get a fair wage and poor children get free uniforms.