The silver anklet manufacturers here have claimed that for the Onam festival, the orders from Kerala has come down by 60% due to the recent natural disasters.
Silver anklet manufacturing is one of the important businesses in Salem district, through which over one lakh people directly and indirectly get jobs. From Salem, silver anklets are sent to various States, including Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra.
Over 11,000 silver anklet units are functioning in Maniyanoor, Sivathapuram, Shevapet, Ponnammapet, Gugai, Panankadu, Sankagiri, and Solampallam. Usually during the Onam festival, silver anklet units in Salem would get orders from jewellery shops in Kerala. But this year, the silver anklet manufacturers claimed that the orders have reduced to 60%, which affects the manufacturers.
Salem Silver Anklet Manufacturers’ Handicraft Welfare Association president C. Sree Anandharajan said that due to the recent landslide in Wayanad and continuous rain in various parts of Kerala, the orders for the Onam festival have come down. Usually, more orders are received from Palakkad, Thrissur, Thiruvananthapuram, etc. for Onam. But this year, the jewellery shops claimed that the Onam celebration will be simple. The people of Kerala are yet to recover from the disaster. Compared to last year, only 60% of orders were received.
Usually, 10 days ahead of the festival, all the orders will be sent to Kerala from Salem. As only 10 days more are left for the festival, there will be no further orders. The Onam orders will provide work for workers for two months. But this year, workers got work for 15 days a month due to reduction in orders. This affects the manufacturers severely, as owners should give salary for the workers for all the days in many units in the district, whether there is an order or not. “We expect good business for the upcoming festival season in Tamil Nadu, Mr. Anandharajan added.
Published - September 05, 2024 07:33 pm IST
