Letters: Problems with bots

With reference to the article, "Welspun a wake-up call for textile firms" (September 13) by Rajesh Bhayani, the issue goes much beyond global legal and regulatory frameworks clamping down on quality standards, labour laws, environmental guidelines and anti-money laundering.

In addition to compliance with international regulations, what is of concern to countries such as India is the recent International Labour Organization (ILO) report, which says that up to 90 per cent of workers in South and South-East Asia could face unemployment through automation in the garment industry. These new robots known as sewbots are likely to take over jobs in the garment industry - as they produce garments, shoes and other products - that are currently outsourced to countries where labour is cheap.

Automation is eliminating several jobs in the economy once done by the people. But the worry is the introduction of robotic technologies. An ILO spokesperson suggests that mass unemployment could be avoided if Asean's/India's garment factories shift from an export-oriented model to one in which it tries to supply South and South-East Asia's growing middle classes. India should pay attention to this game changer in technology.

H N Ramakrishna, Bengaluru
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