Powerlooms fall silent: Telangana weavers in existential crisis again
The rhythmic rattling of the looms has given way to an eerie silence as a majority of the 25,000 looms in Rajanna Sircilla have been shut due to lack of work orders from the State government
Hyderabad: The clatter of powerlooms in Rajanna Sircilla, which used to be heard nonstop this time of the year for the last several years, is suddenly not to be heard. The rhythmic rattling of the looms has given way to an eerie silence as a majority of the 25,000 looms in Rajanna Sircilla have been shut due to lack of work orders from the State government.
With master weavers unable to secure orders, they are unable to assign work to the workers, as a result of which nearly 12,000 workers are struggling to make ends meet in Sircilla alone.
The story used to be different earlier, as the State government used to place work orders worth Rs.350 crore with the weavers for Bathukamma sarees, apart from orders worth Rs.115 crore for school uniforms and KCR kit sarees among others. The total worth of orders every year used to range from Rs.500 crore to Rs.550 crore. The orders were usually placed by the end of February or March. Apart from Bathukamma sarees, Ramzan and Christmas gift orders too were issued to the weavers, but this year so far, no such orders have been placed, according to Polyester Clothes Association president Mandala Satyam.
With no work orders from the government, weavers were unable to generate investment for other works as well. Earlier, yarn, dyes, chemicals and other suppliers used to provide the material on credit but now, they too were insisting on cash for supplying the material, he said.
“We can run looms only when we secure orders and then, we will be in a position to assign the job to workers as well. Right now, operating the looms is beyond our financial capabilities,” Satyam said.
In a span of two months, this is the second time that the looms are falling silent. From January 15 to 19, the Polyester Clothes Association and powerloom workers had halted operations and staged protests demanding orders from the government. Following an assurance from the State government that it would purchase their products and place orders, the strike was withdrawn.
However, the assurance has remained on paper.
“Every time we approach elected public representatives and Handlooms department officials, they assure us that orders will be placed soon but nothing of that sort is happening,” Association secretary V Devadas said, appealing to the government to consider their plight and place orders to bail them out from the crisis.
Out of the usual orders for 2 crore metres of cloth for school uniforms, the government had placed orders for just 20 lakh metres. When Bathukamma orders were placed in the past, master weavers used to plan their work schedule and accordingly pay wages ranging from Rs.16,000 to Rs.20,000 a month to the workers. Apart from weavers, ancillary workers like auto-rickshaw drivers, loading workers, welders, carpenters and others used to get work and earn some income. However, since the last couple of months, the entire sector is in a deep financial crisis, with everyone, from master weaver to worker, struggling financially.
In January, a weaver, 55-year-old Alok Kumar, was found hanging in the textile park in Thagallapalli of Sircilla, apparently because he was not able to find work.
The weavers feel that Monday’s suicide of one powerloom worker, T Srinivas in Sircilla, whose body was found hanging on Tuesday morning, is a chilling warning to the State government to reach out to the sector without further delay to prevent more such suicides.
