Small-scale coir factory owners in Alappuzha who are grappling with a dearth of orders for coir handloom products are on the warpath again seeking government intervention to help tide over the crisis.
Factory owners under the aegis of the Kerala State Small Scale Coir Manufactures Federation have announced that they would launch an indefinite strike on October 17.
The factory owners had staged an indefinite strike earlier this year raising various demands. The strike had been called off after Industries and Coir Minister P. Rajeeve held conciliatory talks. According to the owners, the decisions taken at the conciliation meeting are yet to be fully implemented.
No procurement
The small-scale units are demanding fresh orders to sustain their business. "Almost all the units have either been closed or are on the verge of closure due to lack of orders. Coir products have piled up in the units after the Kerala State Coir Corporation stopped procurement in the absence of orders from exporters. One of the decisions taken at the meeting was that the coir corporation would immediately clear all pending dues to societies. It currently owes around ₹45 crore to societies towards coir products procurement price.
"Further, the announcement of procuring ₹5 crore worth of traditional coir items during the Onam season has turned out to be farcical. The Minister concerned is ignorant about the issues and showing a total disregard for the traditional sector," says M. Anilkumar, secretary, Kerala Coir Goods Producers Association. Mr. Kumar says the government has not given market development assistance to societies for the past three years.
Role of middlemen
Small-scale coir owners have demanded an end to the 'depot system' (middlemen). They allege that despite the promises made at the meeting, exporters are not notifying orders for coir products with the coir corporation, the agency for implementing the Purchase Price Stabilisation Scheme. According to them, the exporters are procuring the products from units of their choice with the help of intermediaries. Due to this practice, many societies and small-scale factories are deprived of their share of orders, plunging them into deep crises.
Around 60 societies comprising 8,000-odd small-scale coir units in Cherthala and Ambalapuzha taluks produce coir doormats and mattings on handlooms in the outskirts of Alappuzha and Cherthala towns. They together employ more than 25,000 workers.
