The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Weaving units in Karur district to down shutters

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Sunday, May 04, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Weaving units in Karur district to down shutters

L. Renganathan

They protest steep increase in yarn prices for past few months

For three days from Monday
Government urged to intervene

KARUR: Weaving units in Karur district are to remain shut for three days from Monday to protest the steep increase in yarn prices over the past few months.

Spiralling yarn prices have deeply affected the weaving industry in the textile export town of Karur. Many textile export units are finding it difficult to sustain following a slew of crises the industry is faced with. The issues include rupee appreciation, yarn price fluctuation, labour shortage, inflation, rising cost of inputs and overheads.

If that is the case for export oriented textile units, the weaving industry that caters to the domestic market is also feeling the pinch.

Consequent to the dwindling orders, job cuts are on the rise. Skilled and semi-skilled artisans such as weavers are left with fewer jobs to fight for. While cost of the finished product has gone up, sources in the industry confess that neither the unit owners nor the skilled workers benefit. The sources also reveal that export of cotton, especially waste cotton, has almost crippled the textile industry. Coarse cotton varieties that are mostly used in the units in Karur have become dearer and that too has pushed up the cost of the finished material.

There was a time when even unskilled workers who come from far off places in the district could get two shifts of work that could help them get at least Rs. 100. But they now have to contend with work for just one shift for a maximum daily earning of Rs. 70. That is a clear reflection and fall-out of the problems the industry is facing, the sources note.

Several textile forums including the Karur Textile Manufacturer Exporters’ Association and the Karur Textile Forum have pointed out problems and have urged the Centre and the State governments to intervene and find a solution. But no concerted move has been made in that regard, the sources add.

It is in this situation that the Karur District Weaving and Knitting Factory Owners’ Association has come out with the strike call.

A circular to its members, signed by the association president Puliampatti P. Ramasamy and secretary R. Natarajan, issued to members recently note that the spiralling yarn prices has led the industry into trouble.

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