Silk Association of India has urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who holds the portfolio of sericulture, to convene a meeting of stakeholders once every three months. They have asked for sericulturists, scientists, reelers and weavers to be involved in the meetings to discuss issues pertaining to the silk industry.
Association president and former MP C. Narayanaswamy on Wednesday said that the Union government should roll back the reduction in customs duty on imported raw silk to help the indigenous industry.
Vice-president of the Association and former Member Secretary of Central Silk Board V. Balasubramanian said mulberry was grown on 1.67 lakh hectares during 1995-96. The figure had come down to 87,000 hectares in 2014-15, he added.
Other demands
Among the other demands of the association are fixing prices for cocoon based on the quality, immediate disbursement of bonus to silk merchants at the market, setting up a revolving fund of Rs 500 crores to purchase cocoons and silk yarn at minimum support price, filling up of vacancies in the Sericulture Department and setting up automatic reeling machines on a large scale to ensure international quality of raw silk.
