The Hindu : 15,000 Vellakoil powerlooms closed

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Nov 11, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu

15,000 Vellakoil powerlooms closed

By Our Staff Reporter

Erode Nov. 10. Following an ``abnormal'' hike in yarn prices, more than 15,000 powerlooms in the Vellakoil area were closed today. Consequently, more than 10,000 workers, mainly women, have been rendered jobless.

More than 25,000 powerlooms were functioning and about 20,000 workers are dependent on this industry in the area.

Powerloom owners said the prices of coarse varieties of yarn used by the units had risen by Rs. 100-140 a bundle of five-kg. As a result, the cost of production would go up.

The Vellakoil Small Textile Producers and Traders Association secretary, M. Shanmugam, appealed to the Union Government to stop yarn export.

If the prices of yarn continued to rule high, many more powerlooms in Vellakoil and other areas in this district would stop production.

Meanwhile, the Erode Powerloom Cloth Merchants Association president, S. Vaiyapuri Mudaliar, has sent a memorandum to the Union Finance Minister, urging repeal of the CENVAT, which, he said, already caused a huge loss to powerloom cloth manufacturers. Day-by-day, the textile industry was sinking because of the abnormal price of yarn. Owing to adverse seasonal conditions, cotton production had fallen but yarn export was going up.

This was the major reason for the yarn price hike. Powerlooms owners in the Chennimalai area have already declared a one-week holiday.

Only in the Veerappanchatram area near Erode are powerlooms still functioning.

Collector's intervention sought

Our Coimbatore Staff Reporter reports:

Meanwhile, the Coimbatore District Powerloom Workers' Sangham today sought the intervention of the Collector, N. Muruganandam, in their bonus issue.

A group of workers sought to meet the Collector at his office this morning with a memorandum containing the grouse over eight per cent bonus.

The sangham, in a memorandum, said that while they had demanded a higher bonus, the managements fixed it at eight per cent without holding talks with the workers.

It sought the Collector's intervention to bring about an amicable settlement.

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