THICO silks weavers demand 25 per cent rebate to clear stocks

TIRUCHY: The members of Thirubuvanam Silk Saree Weavers Cooperative Society (THICO Silks) along with their family members staged a protest in Thanjavur on Tuesday demanding the government to provide 25 per cent rebate to the piled-up stocks of sarees and the appointment of permanent Managing Director for the society.

According to the members, the THICO Society has been functioning at Thirubuvanam as a profit making unit for the past 69 years with more than 1,700 members who depended on the society for their livelihood.

Since the Union government increased the price of raw material including silver zari and imposed higher GST, the sale of these hand woven silk sarees was affected which led to a stagnation of stocks worth Rs 102 crore and this resulted employment loss to several members and currently, a weaver gets only Rs 200 per day which is inadequate to run families.

The weavers claimed that the government’s support only can help them move forward and so they approached the officials to sort out plans to increase the sale of the stocked sarees but their appeals went futile.

Against such a backdrop, on Tuesday, the members led by the THICO Silks Weavers Protection Coordination Committee Secretary Nagendran, assembled in front of the Thirubuvanam Handlooms Assistant Director’s office and attempted to stage a protest.

But they were denied permission to hold a protest in front of the office and so shifted the venue at THICO Silks Weavers Cooperative Society and staged a protest.

The protesting members demanded a 25 per cent rebate to the sarees that are stocked so that they could achieve a reasonable sale target.

They demanded a dedicated Managing Director to the societies that are involved in business of Rs 200 crore annually. They also appealed to the state government to arrange the Cooptex to procure the stagnated sarees and save the THICO Silk Society and provide uninterrupted job orders to the members.