No stitch in time: Yarn delay cripples Erode powerlooms' output
Weavers cast aspersions over long delays in issuing tenders and as well as supply of yarn with a hidden agenda of curtailing the scheme altogether and instead are making procurement of the entire stocks from the corporate autolooms in northern states
Production of sarees and dhotis under way in powerlooms in Erode
COIMBATORE: Powerloom weavers in Erode are racing against time to churn out ‘dhotis’ and ‘sarees’ to be distributed among the public for the Pongal festival through the Public Distribution System (PDS).
Yet, the weavers are apprehensive about meeting the deadline for delivery.
“Production of only 50 to 60 per cent of sarees and 80 to 90 per cent of dhotis will be over by the second week of January. Hundreds of powerlooms are operated round the clock on a shift basis to execute the orders. Last year, production was completed by December itself,” said B Kandavel, joint co-ordinator of the Tamil Nadu Federation of Powerloom Association.
Weavers attribute an unwarranted delay in the supply of yarn to have impacted the timely execution of orders.
“Yarn for ‘sarees’ was supplied delayed in October after finalising tenders in the middle of September. A subsequent delay in yarn passing through a series of quality tests has further delayed production works. Whereas for dhotis, the yarn was supplied in September and by October; almost 30 per cent of yarn was received by powerloom units,” he added.
Yarn is supplied to power loom weavers by August every year to commence production works. However, a similar delay happened in 2022 when powerloom units managed to complete orders and deliver consignments only by March. This was against the system in place until a few years ago, when the entire process was streamlined and also on time.
Weavers cast aspersions over long delays in issuing tenders and as well as supply of yarn with a hidden agenda of curtailing the scheme altogether and instead making procurement of the entire stock of sarees and dhotis from the corporate autolooms in northern states rather than going through such a series of process.
“Even last year, a bulk volume of 30 lakh sarees was bought from autolooms in the final moment, besides ours,” said S Ramesh, a weaver in Erode.
“This year, orders for dhoti’s and sarees were given for 1.77 crore, but downsized to a drastic 1.44 crore, which is a steep cut by 18 per cent,” said R Velusamy, secretary of Tamil Nadu Federation of Powerloom Association.
As a further blow, the yarn has been supplied, so far only towards the production of 80 per cent of orders and a strong doubt persists, if additional yarn would be given to powerlooms to execute the remaining orders.
Over 40,000 powerlooms in Erode and Tiruchengode in Namakkal districts churn out ‘sarees’ and ‘dhotis’ under the government scheme. Both these districts execute 80 per cent of orders, while parts of Coimbatore Tirupur and Salem are also engaged in its production in moderate volume.
The power loom sector provides employment to over one lakh people directly and another one lakh indirectly through means of packing, sizing, transportation and others under the government scheme.
