The Tamil Nadu Firecrackers Labourers Welfare Federation urged the State government to issue the licences to sell firecrackers at least one month ahead of Deepavali.
The federation members said there are about 500 fireworks companies in the Sivakasi and Madurai belts and nearly five lakh labourers who are dependent on the industry. This year, the industry got only 35 per cent of the usual orders. Nearly Rs.1,000 crore worth of stock is stagnating in the firecracker units. Despite a ban, import of firecrackers from China continues, mainly for sale in north India. Federation president N. Raja sought a total ban on Chinese firecrackers.
“At present, we get licences to sell firecrackers only in four places — Chennai, Coimbatore, Salem and Tiruppur. In Chennai, the licence is given only a fortnight before the festival. The government must provide temporary licences to sell firecrackers a month ahead and permit sales all over the State,” he said.
The federation also demanded that the State government intervene and regulate the price of firecrackers to tackle the problem of the exorbitant maximum retail price (MRP) mentioned in the cracker boxes, which is much more than the manufacturing price.
Federation says that though crackers from China are banned, they are still being illegally imported
