Simmering protest by weavers on loss of livelihood

They say Centre has not set aside funds for handlooms

March 20, 2013 12:39 pm | Updated November 16, 2021 11:14 pm IST - PUDUCHERRY:

AITUC brew gruel by the roadside at Muthialpet in Puducherry on Tuesday. Photo: T. Singaravelou

AITUC brew gruel by the roadside at Muthialpet in Puducherry on Tuesday. Photo: T. Singaravelou

A group of weavers gathered near the clock tower in Muthialpet in order to protest their loss of livelihood by making rice gruel (kanji) on the roadside.

According to one of the protesters, the Central Government had not set aside any funds for handlooms in this budget. In the previous years, there had been a separate allocation for the handloom sector. It was the duty of the State government to ask the Centre to allocate funds for them and to ensure that their livelihood was not affected.

Puducherry was famous for handlooms in the past, and in the 1960s there were over 12,000 handloom weavers. Now, however, the numbers had dwindled considerably and even those who were still in the profession did not have work.

Government help

The government, which was earlier providing the thread for these weavers, has stopped doing so recently. They have also stopped paying their wages, despite the weavers turning up for work everyday. The government is legally obliged to pay them at least 50 per cent of their wages, the protester said.

Despite sending representations to various government agencies and ministers, there was still no response. Unless the situation changed, the protests would continue, the protesters said.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.