The inaction of the State government to the woes of powerloom owners and workers had badly hit the textile industry in the State, said G.K. Vasan, president of Tamil Maanila Congress.
He told presspersons here on Wednesday that more than two weeks had passed since the powerloom operators had begun their indefinite closure of their units, demanding rollback of power tariff increase. Production has been badly affected as most of the operators had shut their units. It had a cascading effect on the textile industry. Several hundreds of workers had become jobless because of the strike.
However, the State government, which was supposed to respond to the strike call immediately, had failed to find a solution to the issue. If this situation continued in the sector, it would have considerable impact on the livelihood of workers and stability of textile units in Coimbatore, Tirupur, Karur, Erode and other districts. Hence, the government should intervene in the matter immediately.
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Stating that the steep increase in prices of cement had crippled the construction industry, Mr.Vasan said the average price of bag of cement had gone up from Rs. 260 to Rs. 390 in the last two months. Industry inputs said the price increase was unreasonable as the sector was reeling under severe pressure from many fronts. The government must intervene immediately or livelihood of several lakhs of construction workers would be hit.
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While welcoming the stand of Sri Lankan government on implementing 13{+t}{+h}Amendment, Mr. Vasan said it should keep the promise given to the Tamils of Sri Lanka and India. Displaced Tamils should be brought back by ensuring ownership of land and other properties. The Centre should play a constructive role in the rehabilitation of Tamils, he added.