In this guide 6 sections
Keep one page per weaver with four blocks: yarn issued, cloth returned, wastage allowed and wages paid. Every line carries a date, so the trader can read off how much yarn sits in each household on any day. Wastage is checked against an agreed allowance, not argued at the end.
What the trader needs to see on any date
A silk trader in Bhagalpur may have yarn out with forty households. The question he gets asked is simple. How much of my yarn is sitting at Mohammad’s loom today, and how much cloth should I get back?
A loose notebook cannot answer that. Entries are made on the day yarn goes out and again when cloth comes in, but nobody subtracts. The balance lives in the trader’s head until it fails.
The register below makes the balance a column, so the answer is one glance.
The weaver page, block by block
Give each weaver his own page, or his own tab in a sheet. At the top go the name, mohalla, mobile number, loom type and the agreed wage rate per piece or per metre.
Yarn issued is the first block. Each row holds the date, the lot or dyed shade, the weight in grams, the denier or count, and a signature or thumb mark. The second block is cloth returned, with date, length, width and a quality grade.
- Date and challan or slip number for each issue
- Lot, shade and count of the yarn
- Weight issued and weight of cloth returned
- Grade given at inspection, such as first or second
- Running yarn balance after every line
Wastage and wages without arguments
Agree an allowance for waste before the first issue, per kilo of warp and weft, and write it at the top of the page. Everything beyond it is shown in a separate column and discussed with the weaver at the time of return.
Wages are the third block. Log the piece, the rate, any deduction for a defect and any advance given. The page then shows what is due and what was advance, so the Saturday payment is not a dispute.
Keep one note column. A broken warp during Chhath week or a power cut is worth a line, because it explains a delay that otherwise looks like negligence.
- Allowance per kilo set at the first issue
- Wastage found at inspection beside allowance
- Advance given and advance recovered
- Defect deduction with a reason written beside it
From notebook to a shared sheet or software
Start with a spreadsheet if the trader is comfortable with one. One tab per weaver, one summary tab with a line for each household showing yarn out, cloth due and amount owed. A formula does the subtraction.
Move to software when the number of looms grows or when two people write entries. Then the same page fills from a phone at the loom, and photos of the defect sit beside the line.
Whatever you use, keep the paper slip given to the weaver. It is his proof as much as yours.
Start with five households
Do not convert all forty at once. Pick five weavers whose balances you already trust, build their pages, and run them for one full cycle of issue and return. Fix the columns that confuse people.
Then add the rest, ten at a time. On the first Saturday of every month, total the yarn out and compare it with the stock in the godown room before anyone is paid.
Weaver yarn and wage page
A one page register for each household loom. The header holds weaver name, mohalla, mobile, loom type, wage rate and wastage allowance. Three tables follow: yarn issued with lot, count and weight, cloth returned with length and grade, and wages with advance and deduction. A running yarn balance column ends the page.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
How do we find yarn that has gone missing?
Compare yarn issued with cloth returned plus allowed wastage plus yarn still at the loom. A gap shows on the weaver’s running balance, long before the end of the lot.
Can the register handle weavers who share one loom?
Yes. Keep one page for the household and list the working members in the header. The yarn and the wages belong to the household, and one person signs.
Should wages be paid per piece or per metre?
Use whichever the weaver already trusts. The register only needs the rate and the measure written at the top, and the same measure used at inspection every time.