Pillaiyar Koil Street in Kangeyanallur reverberates with the sound of powerloom units. As the weavers work for 12 hours a day weaving the cloth for lungis, the noise refuses to fade away, like their miseries.
There are several pockets in the district that is home to powerloom owners and labourers. This includes Kangeyanallur, Ponnai, Rendadi, Kodaikal, Panapakkam, Thiruparkadal, Gudiyatham and Pudur. In the last few years, hundreds of powerloom weavers across the district have been grappling with dwindling wages, unaffordable electricity bills and lack of benefits such as health cover. With the elections round the corner, the weavers are disappointed that the government had not looked into their problems.
In September 2014, the weavers launched a protest after their wages started to dwindle. They weave and supply lungis for private brands through cloth agencies. They resorted to protest that was followed by strike for several days after their wages were reduced.
“Despite all our protests, the State government did not take efforts to solve the crisis. Our wages were reduced, and our livelihood turned into a big question,” said Ashokan, a weaver.
Forty-eight-year-old M. Babu has been into powerloom weaving for 15 years. A handloom weaver, he shifted to powerloom as the government did not provide enough materials and there were poor sales too. “We weave 10 metres a day in one powerloom unit. I have two units and weave 600 metres a month. Two metres of cloth makes one lungi. Earlier, our agents paid us Rs. 11,650 for 600 metres, and this was reduced to Rs. 10,500 nearly two-and-a-half years ago. They said the wages were reduced as there were problems in production,” he said.
The unit owners pointed out that about Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 6,000 is left in hand after spending for labour, maintenance of unit and electricity charges. Many weavers said they were unable to afford the electricity bills. “The digital metres have been showing higher power usage. If we get 4 HP power for the unit, we are being asked to pay Rs. 60 per HP along with the bills. This added cost is causing hardship for us,” Mr. Babu added.
The weavers are of the view that the government should take over powerloom units. “Instead of supplying for private firms, we can supply for the government. A society can be formed to cover powerloom weavers,” he said.
Government’s apathy, high electricity bills push them into despair
