The Hindu Business Line : Free saree/dhoti scheme keeps powerlooms busy in TN

THE Tamil Nadu Government's keenness to continue with the free saree dhoti distribution for the Pongal festival to the economically weaker sections has kept a vast number of powerloom weavers in Salem, Namakkal and Erode districts busy who would otherwise be jobless considering the fall in the overall textile purchases in local markets.

The decision of the State Government to award the work on production of sarees and dhotis to the decentralised powerlooms in these weaving clusters has proved timely. Lack of rains has deprived the weavers of any gainful farming activity, informed textile industry sources in these centres say.

Considering the massive task of getting ready a huge quantity of sarees and dhotis to meet the distribution schedule, the State Government is said to have `positively' decided to hand over a major production assignment to the powerloom weavers co-op societies in these belts for the first time as supply of such large quantity could not be met by the handloom weavers alone.

The sources told Business Line that various powerloom weavers co-operative societies in the key powerloom clusters of Salem, Namakkal and Erode were given orders to produce a total of about 8 crore metres of fabrics that would go into the production of sarees and dhotis to be given free during the Pongal festival this month.

The powerloom weavers through their respective weavers' co-operative societies are believed to have obtained a total work order to supply Rs 120 crore worth of the sarees and dhotis. These supplies consist of some 81 lakh sarees and 74 lakh dhotis.

According to the powerloom industry sources, notwithstanding some initial hiccups such as the surge in the cotton yarn prices during the period when large number of powerloom weavers were being booked for the `free' saree/dhoti production contracts, most societies managed to tackle the situation, thanks to swift official co-ordination between the State handloom/textile department and that of the Union Textile Ministry and its co-ordinating agencies at the State level who had to thrash out the glitches encountered in the yarn supply and the pricing of the yarn quoted by the private textile trade and industry. The officialdoms entrusted with the overseeing of the `free-saris/dhotis' scheme implementation this time is believed to have kept extra vigil on the quality of these textile goods ordered for public distribution considering the sensitivity of the issue.