Tamil Nadu - Madurai   

Appalam producers of Madurai in dire straits madurai matters

— Photos: K. Ganesan

IN A FIX: Women making appalam at a unit in Chintamani in Madurai. K.S. Raja, proprietor of a unit, says urad dhal, available at Rs. 4,000 per quintal this April, is being sold at Rs. 8,500

MADURAI: With prices of urad dhal rising, small-scale appalam-making units in the city are in dire straits and facing closure. A visit to some of the units in Jaihindpuram and Chintamani revealed that some of the units are on the verge of closure, at least temporarily for a couple of months. While the entrepreneurs expect the government to come to their rescue, the workers pray that they remain employed.

There are about 2,000 appalam-making units spread over different locations in and around the city. An estimated two lakh people (mostly women) are engaged directly and indirectly in the trade, according to a proprietor K.S. Raja. Urad dhal, which was available at Rs. 4,000 per quintal in this April, is being sold at Rs. 8,500 per quintal. Not only the domestic markets, even things are in a bad shape in the export front as well.

Some of the big players whose prime focus is on exports to the Middle East and Singapore are in a Catch-22 situation. “Since we’ve agreed to supply at a price to our buyers (importers), the steep rise in urad dhal has resulted in loss.”

Out of the 2,000-odd appalam makers, only 10 per cent may survive the crisis and the rest may shut shop anytime, Mr. Raja said.

Many attribute the online commodity business as ‘responsible’ for such a mess in the rise in prices of urad dhal and other pulses. The government should ban online trading. When it allowed import of pulses, only a meagre quantity reached the needy, while the bigwigs dealing online amassed the rest, they say.

Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry senior president S. Rethinavelu told The Hindu that the government must set up a Board for pulses management which would not only help farmers in cultivation and post-harvest operations, but also facilitate in providing a comprehensive scheme for the sector.

With continuous rains, making appalams (even in small numbers) has come to a standstill in many places. “Till the commodity is kept ready at the packing stage, good sunlight is essential as it not only enables us to produce higher quantities, but to maintain the quality as well,” a woman worker in Jaihindpuram said.

Most of these workers take the work from the producers on a piecemeal basis and engage family members. Some say the wages are very low, However, only in this trade that the workers receive a huge sum of money as advance.

Ramamurthy, a manufacturer, blames the banks for not supporting this tiny industry. But for offering loans to select key players, the banks reject our proposals under some pretext or the other. As a result, we are compelled to take loans from merchants who sell urad dhal at a high price, he says.

The need of the hour is timely intervention by Madurai MP M.K. Alagiri who alone can save us, manufacturers say. They plan to make a representation to the Union Minister soon.

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