During the daily course of my life, as I enjoy a three course nutritious meal each day, wearing branded clothing which is right in fashion and snoring away a good night's sleep under the roof of my own home; my mind at times drifts upon those people who are not able to avail any of the basic needs required to live with dignity in the society. There are countless number of people who are suffering in dire poverty in every walk of life. Poverty is such a disgrace to the nation, to which all of us together need to stand up to alleviate it. Stats yell out that India has the largest population in the world dwelling in poverty. About 21.9% of the total population of India is under the below poverty line who are not able to earn an average income of ₹ 33/day. So here comes the question as to how, we, the common men can contribute in a healthy manner to soft-pedal it each day, if not eradicate it completely overnight which of-course is a next to impossible task.
As I brood on this disease that our nation had been grieving upon since ages, and the basic needs of human - food, clothing and shelter; it's not hard for all of us to realize that these three industries of food, clothing and shelter contribute a noteworthy portion of revenue to the service industry of the country. Among these sectors, food and shelter sectors are seen brimming with various innovative and competitive services day-in and day-out making the lives of the consumers pleasurable. Much to my surprise, the clothing sector with laundry services seems to be the most untapped area and the full potential is yet to be unleashed.
Throwing some light on this Dhobi industry, the organised sector in the laundry service market is only ₹ 5,000.0 crores whereas the unorganised market is about ₹ 2,20,000.0 crores. Where unorganised sector thrives, there is no structure to the industry and there is a huge loss of opportunity to generate revenue for the country. That's when it had dawned upon me that there lies a huge untapped market for the laundry business with the majority of the market being highly unstructured, untapped and unorganised.
Most of the population relied on dhobis and domestic helps to cater to their laundry needs which I now feel is an age old lost custom. In this present era with the busy weekdays and the slothful weekends of all the working and the student strata, doing their laundry is a daunting and an enervating task. This spurted the demand for the laundry services at disposal and has thus enabled the erstwhile smaller and unorganised laundry industry to strive to become organised and is ringing with opportunities to grow beyond conformity with an estimated market size of ₹ 2,20,000 crores.
All said and done, if we actually zoom into the base of the laundry industry, the foundation in itself has always been shaky with lack of proper structure in terms of quality and commitment. In this current generation, consumer focused on-demand service is the ultimate key for a business in any industry where we have seen the likes of Ola, Bigbasket, Hotstar and others tasting success which have adopted the mantra and are serving the customers in completing their job in a hassle-free manner. So here arises a pressing need for the consumer focused on demand service in the laundry industry too where you can avail quality laundry services at the click of a button with on-time delivery. With this driving force, the birth of PKC Laundries took roots.
Scrutinizing the things that are required to be changed in the laundry industry to make it organized, I had stumbled upon the following thoughts -
1. Safe practices of Dhobis - Persons who are into this profession, are exposed to harsh chemicals and intense heat which eventually deprives them of healthy life in the long term. The Dhobis are physically capable of doing laundry of about 30 clothes per day. However, in the need to pacify the burning stomachs of self and the family, they tend to take up the laundry task of 3-4 times of their ability. It is to be noted that all the processes that require chemical treatment to the clothes like bleaching and dry cleaning; have to be carried out in a secluded place wearing all the necessary protective masks and clothing. The chemicals used are very harmful to the skin when exposed to or inhaled, leading to skin diseases and breathing disorders which may induce cancer in the long-term upon continuous exposure. Such is the impact on Dhobis, of which they are basically not aware. On the whole, Dhobis are compromising on their health and the health of the clothes too. Therefore the prime most thing that has to be done, is to educate Dhobis on the severity of impact cause on their health and their family indirectly and make them aware of the safe practices.
2. Licensed inclusion of Dhobis - Just like the Gold sellers to the meat sellers and to the belt shop owners who need a license to set shop their facility, licensing is required even for Dhobis to run their services. The major step towards making laundry industry into an organized industry, I intend Government to provide each Dhobi a license for setting a Dhobi service stop and bringing them onto same platform. Once such move is initiated, there will be no bounds in moulding an organized laundry industry. Laundry shops can be set up at a centralised location in each city wherein these licensed Dhobis carry out the operations. As a next move, Government could then provide basic equipment like steam iron boxes replacing the heavy and scorching smoky charcoal iron, safety equipment like gloves and safety masks for carrying out the chemical treatment of clothes. Currently, there is a wide demand-supply gap in laundry industry. These steps if implemented, would aid in that gap and also provide the opportunity of creating jobs. Just imagine the quantum of jobs that would be generated if the organized laundry market spins ahead from Rs. 5,000.0 crore mark to Rs. 2,20,000.0 crores. Isn't it mind boggling just to picture the future of laundry market? Yes, it is and I can hear a resounding Yes from each of the reader out there. With the increase in jobs, grows the revenue of the country. All this can happen, if and only if the laundry industry becomes organized.
3. Dignity of Laundry job - Well, this I'm rather surprised that over ages, doing the job of laundry had been a job of little significance and looked down by everyone. It is thought to be job for the lower strata illiterate people. For instance, just question yourself. Do you want to associate yourself in a job related to laundry? I can sense a big, firm NO. And yes, even I had and I am going through this phase, where I'm demeaned as a laundry person and that I could have been one even without any education. This cliched thinking of many has actually deprived the laundry industry of the glory it could have attained. All such like minded people, when actually go to other countries, do not take a back step in taking up jobs like being a receptionist, working in a petrol bunk, supermarket as salesperson, waiters in hotels and restaurants. When inquired about the same, I had always got a plain answer that there is dignity of labour abroad which is missing in India. Doing laundry is our daily need and I feel there is a necessity to give the Laundry job its long due dignity. The industry requires people who are well educated, who can stand up for taking the industry to the next level.
Many might question that such vision is a wild goose chase and is unattainable in India. I retort, as to why it cannot? It's all in our blocked thinking. As rightly quoted by Sir Abdul Kalam, it's time we give wings to our thoughts and set ablaze to bring a change in the society no matter how small.
I leave you on this note, with a little hope that I have kindled the thoughts of at-least a few.
