The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Weavers want handloom park set up in Karur

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Sunday, Jul 19, 2009
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Weavers want handloom park set up in Karur

L. Renganathan

Neighbouring handloom centres also stand to benefit

Photo: P. Goutham

WORRIED: A handloom weaver at work in Ammapet in Salem. —

KARUR: Distraught handloom weavers of Karur, hamstrung by declining job works and returns, have urged the Prime Minister and the Union Textiles Minister to establish the mega handloom textile park announced for Tamil Nadu in Karur district.

Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had announced, as part of his budget presentation, that one of the two planned mega handloom textile parks would be established in Tamil Nadu.

“At a time when works are dwindling and returns are paltry for the hundreds of handloom weavers and handloom weaving aides in Karur , the plan for establishing the park has come as a harbinger of hope for us. The Union and the State governments that have provided a lifeline for the weaving artisans in this form should ensure that the hallowed handloom centre of Karur gets the textile park,” said Karur District Handloom Weavers’ Protection Society president K.A. Chinnusamy.

In a memorandum addressed to the Prime Minister and the Textiles Minister, Mr. Chinnusamy pointed out that the “Handloom mark” introduced during the UPA Government regime has made a significant contribution to the betterment of handloom weavers in several clusters. While ensuring that at least a margin of the textile industry caters genuinely to the handloom weavers, the mark has also come to be seen as a protection for the weaving artisans as a stamp of approval by the governmental agencies.

Patronage for the handloom products has been dwindling over the years due to shrinking market and the worldwide economic downturn has only added to the woes of the handloom product export industry.

“Works that have all along sustained us have been few and far between and the exporters say that the recession has hit them hard and orders are hard to come by. As for Karur, which has been a traditional handloom weaving centre, the historical business significance, credible export base, deft handloom weavers who have carved a niche for themselves in the international market, large workforce and willing hands make Karur the apt location for establishing the handloom textile park. The numerous textile export industrial houses would be happy to extend their support to the venture,” Mr. Chinnusamy observed in the memorandum.

Rs. 3,000 crore turnover

The Karur textile export industry clocks a turnover of Rs. 3,000 crore annually and the setting up of the park would increase the business volume. The emerging integrated textile park that is coming up in Karur district would also give a boost to the textile industry, Mr. Chinnusamy has said.

All the efforts would benefit thousands of weavers and others engaged in textile and allied industries that have put Karur on the international textile market.

Karur being the geographical centre of the State, neighbouring traditional handloom centres such as Erode, Salem, parts of Tiruchi and Namakkal districts as also Madurai would benefit, he added.

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