The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Karur tailors seek cottage industry status

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Friday, Apr 25, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Karur tailors seek cottage industry status

Staff Reporter

To tide over power crisis and the slowdown in the textile export industry

KARUR: With the Karur tailors’ cup of woes overflowing, they are now seeking cottage industry status for their trade to be eligible for a subsidised power tariff structure. They have also urged that the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) should refrain from enforcing the commercial tariff or imposing fine for tariff structure violation.

Their pleas come after last Tuesday’s raid by a special flying squad of the TNEB on several houses in Rayanur area of Karur town. During the operation, TNEB officials detected that many people were utilising the domestic power connection for operating electricity powered sewing and stitching machines for undertaking job works from textile exporting firms in the town.

The affected workers have come together under the banner of Tailoring Workers Protection Group and they met the Collector, T.N. Venkatesh, on Thursday and proffered a representation listing their woes and demands.

Speaking after submitting the petition, the Group president R.K. Rasappan and Secretary A. Murugesan pointed out that the economy of Karur was largely dependant on textile export that was feeding thousands of people. One aspect of the export business was the job work of tailoring and stitching that were usually entrusted to units that had around 10 or so electricity powered and manual sewing machines. Like a cottage industry all members of the family would contribute their mite towards completing the job. Most of the working families resided in rented premises and were barely making ends meet. Following the TNEB raids, owners of the premises were pressuring the tailors to move out fearing Board action.

Already the unit operators were feeling the pinch of the slow down in the textile export industry in Karur. The TNEB action against us came in the wake of those developments and that was breaking our back, Mr. Rasappan and Mr. Murugesan observed.

We have urged the administration to help get cottage industry status for our trade so that we could overcome the “power crisis,” they said adding that they want either free power or at least power at a subsidised rate. They also urged the TNEB to halt action against them and give them more time for coping with the situation.

“Huge fines only serve to burden us beyond redemption and we look up to the authorities to pull us back from the brink.”

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