Weavers in distress

The handloom weavers' problems remain despite the Tamil Nadu government's announcement of a relief package.

FIFTY years ago, their lives reduced to tatters, handloom weavers of Srivilliputhur in Tamil Nadu's Virudhunagar district were forced to go to community gruel centres to feed their families. They organised a hunger march to Madras. This marked the beginning of the cooperative movement which, the weavers believed, would ensure that they did not face a similar fate again.

But almost to the month, 50 years hence in July 2002, the weavers of Srivilliputhur were back at the gruel centres as a result of the virtual collapse of the cooperative societies.

Weavers have lurched from one crisis to another, surviving on the strength of their resilience. The latest one was precipitated by the State government's refusal to lift the accumulating stocks from the societies since December following the withdrawal of the popular Janata cloth scheme), under which dhotis and saris are distributed to the poor during the Pongal festival.

The Jayalalithaa government's decision to withdraw an 18-year-old scheme - on the plea of a depleted exchequer - thereby affecting badly the weavers was enough to politicise the issue.

Every political party got into the act, much to the chagrin of the weavers who would have preferred a lasting solution instead.

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M. Karunanidhi set the ball rolling when he urged party cadres to help set up gruel centres throughout the State. In a let-them-eat-cake response, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam distributed "biriyani and eggs" to the weavers of Andipatti, making a mockery of the impoverished state of the weavers.

On August 9, the politicisation of the weavers' plight reached a new low with AIADMK and DMK cadres coming to blows at Sellur village in Madurai district. The DMK workers tried to distribute gruel and the AIADMK men, biriyani and egg, to the impoverished weavers. In the clash that followed, a number of party workers, including former Minister of Public Works T. Kiruttinam, and policemen were injured. Some 105 workers, including four women, were arrested.

According to A.K. Padmanabhan, president, Handloom Workers Federation of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), while the problems have been precipitated by the systematic marginalisation of handlooms by the Centre and successive State governments, the withdrawal of the Janata cloth scheme is like the last nail in the coffin for the cooperatives that produce mainly for the scheme.

The State government's refusal to lift stocks, the delay in making payments for the material purchased, the mounting interest on loans, and the mounting burden of payment to special officers appointed by the government superseding the elected boards, he said, were some of the reasons for the weavers' woes. For instance, the Meenakshi Amman Society in Kancheepuram falls back every month in interest payment to the tune of Rs.31,000 to the cooperative bank.

The cooperative movement, started in the 1950s to help weavers tide over frequent crisis situations, and Cooptex, the apex marketing society, set up to promote handlooms, have been undermined systematically over the years. Politicisation of the cooperative set-up, with successive governments dissolving the elected boards and filling the societies with their own partymen, has weakened the movement. Cooptex, far from being a promotional agency, has been transformed into a mere marketing agency.

Tamil Nadu, accounting for nearly 30 per cent of the country's handloom textiles production and 50 per cent of exports, has over six lakh handloom units and 1,400 cooperative societies. Handloom weaving with products ranging from duster cloth to silk saris, is a common occupation throughout the State, except in the Nilgiris district.

Over 50 per cent of the weavers are in the cooperative fold and the majority of them produce dhotis and saris for the Janata cloth scheme. The offtake under the scheme, which distributes saris and dhotis to the poor, was substantial. Among the traditional centres associated with this scheme are Srivilliputhur and Rajapalayam in Virudhunagar district; Andipatti in Madurai district; Ammayarkuppam and Arani in Thiruvallur district; and Kezhkodungalur in Tiruvannamalai district.

Badly hit are societies that produce only for the Janata cloth scheme on orders placed by Cooptex. In the traditional handloom weaving districts of Vellore and Thiruvallur, over 3.5 lakh saris have piled up with 200 societies. Over half the 520-odd cooperative societies in Salem, Namakkal and Dharmapuri districts, with over 30,000 weavers, remain closed. In Cuddalore district, the number of handlooms has dropped from 12,000 to a mere 2,000 in the past two years, and over 80 per cent of the 50,000 weavers are jobless. About 35,000 families, primarily from the Saliya community, are affected. Over two lakh looms are lying idle. According to the societies, stocks worth over Rs.300 crores are lying unsold. Even the old-age and family pension given to poor weavers has been stopped by the government for the last 15 months.

Cooptex, which provides yarn to societies for the production of Janata cloth, and procures saris and dhotis for distribution, lifted stocks until last December. (It has in its godowns over 45 lakh saris and 45 lakh dhotis.) It put procurement on hold this year with the cash-strapped government not allocating funds for the scheme in the 2002-03 Budget. As a consequence, cooperative banks, which provide loans to societies, stopped releasing funds. This led to the societies stopping wage payments to the weavers. The weavers, who usually work on farms during lean periods, have been left high and dry by the severe drought conditions in many parts of the State. While some have migrated to neighbouring States in search of work, many work at construction sites. But the majority of the weavers and their families have been pushed to desperation.

The problem of stock accumulation is not new to the societies. According to E. Muthukumar, general secretary, Tamil Nadu Handloom Workers Federation, the problem became acute in 1992-93, particularly in the lungi-producing South Arcot, Vellore, Villupuram, Cuddalore and Kancheepuram districts. This was because of the availability on a large scale of powerloom products (which cost only a third of those made by the handlooms), encouraged by the government since the mid-1980s.

To help this industry, the 1985 Textile Policy recommended the reservation of 22 items for production by handlooms and also recommended that spinning mills produce 50 per cent of their output as hank yarn which is used by the handlooms. But these were implemented more in the breach. The problems of the handloom industry got compounded when export of yarn was allowed, following the export drive that accompanied the initiatives under the New Economic Policy, and with the diversion of yarn to the powerloom sector. And, on the advice of the Expert Committee on Textile Policy, headed by S.R. Satyam, the Centre withdrew fiscal incentives such as excise duty exemption for handloom at the fabric stage and duty exemption for hank yarn. The Satyam Committee had recommended so ostensibly to "enable the weavers stand up and face the competition in the domestic and international markets".

To add to the weavers' woes, the disbursement to the societies of the rebate on sales is often delayed causing further financial hardship. The situation is worse for those who are not members of either a primary weavers' society (where the looms are owned by the weavers) or an industrial weavers' society (where the looms are owned by the societies) but work under a master weaver, usually as bonded labourers. The wages are low, and the weavers are not covered by the welfare schemes.

Handloom weavers have been representing their problems to the government but their pleas have elicited nothing more than temporary measures. And as the situation began to deteriorate early this year, they organised dharnas and agitations at the local level. When everything failed, and their families faced starvation, the weavers of Srivilliputhur set up community gruel centres on July 22. Soon more gruel centres came up in traditional weaving centres. Under the programme, which started from within and in which the entire community is participating, a group of youngsters goes around the village collecting foodgrains, pulses and vegetables, prepares gruel in a common kitchen, and supplies it to the weavers' families once a day. Workers' organisations, such as the LIC Workers Union, have been helping with necessary food materials.

WHEN the political parties got into the act, the weavers of Srivilliputhur, rejected their offer to set up gruel centres. They have also not accepted the free rice given by the government as part of the relief measures. They want a permanent solution to their problem, not just relief.

On July 9, the Handloom Weavers Union organised a fast in Srivilliputhur. The same day, members of the Saliya community organised a fast in Rajapalayam. This was followed by several local-level protests. On July 22, a total bandh was called in Srivilliputhur. The same day, all trade unions - the CITU, the Indian National Trade Union Congress, the All India Trade Union Congress, the All India Coordination Committee of Trade Unions and the Labour Progressive Front - met in Chennai and passed three resolutions urging the government to lift immediately stocks from all cooperative weavers' societies, clear dues to them, and work out a permanent solution.

As pressure from various political parties and civil rights groups, and from the media coverage, mounted, the State government yielded. On July 28, it announced an allocation of Rs.25 crores to lift stocks from all the primary weavers' cooperative societies. It decided to procure 18 lakh saris and nine lakh dhotis and sell them at fair price shops at Rs.40 and Rs.30 each. Of the stocks already procured and lying in Cooptex godowns, 20 lakh saris and four lakh dhotis are to be distributed free of cost to those getting old-age pension. The remaining stocks are to be sold through fair price shops.

The government has also decided to provide alternative employment to 25,000 weavers who were working under the Janata cloth scheme. A Ministerial team will monitor this. Each weaver's family is to be given 20 kg of rice free of cost. It has also been decided to continue to provide saris and dhotis free of cost twice a year to old age pensioners. This, according to a government statement, will provide employment to 6,000 weavers. Besides, efforts are to be made to meet the clothing requirements of the Social Welfare and Education Departments by buying handloom cloth from traditional weavers. This will provide employment to another 4,000 weavers.

The government has also decided to give the societies yarn worth Rs.8 crores on credit from the 14 cooperative spinning mills in the State. Cooptex and weavers' cooperative societies are to hold exhibitions to sell the stocks worth over Rs.400 crores lying with them. Silk and cotton handloom textiles lying unsold in godowns for the last three years are to be auctioned; one-year and two-year-old textiles are to be sold at a rebate of 45 per cent and 55 per cent respectively. Over 1,000 self help groups are to be set up for women weavers.

The trade unions have termed the relief package "appeasing measures", and say that the effort shows no serious intent. A.K. Padmanabhan says that the Rs.25 crores set aside by the government is a pittance as over Rs.200 crores would be needed to lift all the stocks. The government has killed the industry. Rebate contributions from the Centre and the State government have been stopped. Cooptex neither lifts stocks nor makes payments for those already lifted. "It is important to put in place a system to sustain the demand for handloom cloth," he says. A fire-fighting approach may be all right to deal with a crisis situation, but is not good enough to ensure the survival of handlooms, Padmanabhan observed.

The weavers demand that the societies be handed over to elected managements. (After the AIADMK came to power last year the elected bodies were yet again dissolved and replaced by special officers.) They want the government to implement the reservation of items for handlooms and the mills' hank yarn obligations. They also want help in the upgradation of looms and training to weave other, popular, products.

If the handloom industry has thus far survived competition from the powerlooms, the liberalised policy regime, market instability and government apathy, it is largely because of its own resilience. Now with demand disappearing for traditional handloom products owing to changing consumer preferences, poor marketing facilities, dearth of knowledge, skills and technical expertise to adapt to changing demand and lack of infrastructure to upgrade the looms, the handloom sector is a shambles. If the industry, the second largest employer in Tamil Nadu after agriculture, is to survive and the lakhs of weavers' families are to be saved from their desperate situation, it needs to be re-oriented with sound government support.