Solution to power loom weaver’s strike in a few days: TN Ministers
Replying to the special call attention motion moved by Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami, among others, in the Assembly, Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu said that the Chief Minister
Production of sarees and dhotis under way in powerlooms in Erode
CHENNAI: Ministers of the State government on Thursday assured to find an amicable solution to the ongoing hunger strike of powerloom weavers in Coimbatore and Tirupur districts over hiking the wages as agreed upon in 2022.
Replying to the special call attention motion moved by Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami, among others, in the Assembly, Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu said that the Chief Minister
MK Stalin was keen on resolving the weavers’ issue soon, and the State government was fully committed to addressing the concerns raised by the members.
Referring to the withdrawal of the duty drawback, which is still in vogue in countries like Sri Lanka, minister Thennarasu said that there were many such issues and an agreement was reached for wage revision in 2022. Earlier, replying to the same motion, the State Handloom Minister
R Gandhi said that the talks with the striking weavers were held on March 19, followed by talks on March 13 and 24 by the Collectors of Tirupur and officials of the labour and handloom departments.
Pointing out that similar talks were held on April 1 and 11 with the Information and Publicity Minister MP Saminathan, minister Gandhi said that in the April 15 talks the workers demanded 28% wage hike, but the owners of the weaving units have come forward to hike it by 5%, which the striking workers offered to discuss and revert.
Joining the issue, Electricity Minister V Senthilbalaji said that free electricity to powerlooms was increased to 1,000 units from 500 units on a bi-monthly basis. Out of the 1.63 lakh power looms, about 1.27 lakh weavers were still within the free power bracket, and only 36,000 weaving units were paying electricity tariff, he said. Adding that the DMK regime had provided power subsidy to the tune of Rs 571 crore to the weavers, minister Balaji exuded confidence that the issue would be resolved amicably in one or two days.
KMDK MLA ER Eswaran had earlier said that a Rs 600 crore loss has been incurred over the stir.
