The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Gadwal weavers in middlemen net

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Dec 21, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Gadwal weavers in middlemen net

By Our Staff Reporter

KURNOOL, DEC. 20. Poor marketing facilities have hit the Gadwal sari weavers in Kurnool district. The master weavers, an euphemism for middlemen, have controlled the market.

About 20,000 families in Kodumur area are involved in production of 30,000 Gadwal saris per month in Kurnool district. The looms involved in production of Gadwal sari, which number 10,000, are spread in Kodumur, Mudumalakurthi, Gudur, Yemmiganur, Gudekal, Nandavaram, Gonegandla, Kosigi, Adoni, Kallur and Mandlem.

Two types of production arrangements are in vogue in Kodumur where the master weaver supplies the raw material and the weaver is paid the labour charges for weaving the sari. On the other hand, some of the weavers procure the raw material on their own and sell the finished product to the master weavers. The weavers get an additional profit of Rs 100 per sari if they invest in the raw materials.

Excess charges

However, the weavers say that the master weavers charge excess amount for the raw materials like cotton yarn, silk yarn and jerry. The wages for weaving a sari range from Rs 250 to 800.

Usually, simple Gadwal sari takes one week while Kalanjali saris take 25 days, which involve lot of manual weaving.

Weavers have been protesting the use of synthetic jerry, which is known as tested jerry. While the original jerry costs Rs 1800 for four spindles, which is sufficient for producing five saris, the synthetic jerry costs only Rs 200. The weavers say that use of tested jerry might help in producing the low cost saris but in the long run, it would ruin the brand name of Gadwal sari.

Similarly, the weavers are worried about use of synthetic silk, which is available at Rs 200 per kilo while the cost of quality silk is Rs 1400.

The district secretary of Handloom Workers Union, J.N. Seshaiah, says the only way to protect the Gadwal sari and its weavers is starting handloom purchase centres and offering the fabrics to consumers at no-loss or no profit rates.

He said their association was also planning to open some centres to protect the weavers from middlemen.

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