Tamil Nadu: Despite GI tag, Bhavani version facing stiff competition

COIMBATORE: There was a time when most newspapers carried job vacancy advertisements for agents to market the Bhavani jamakkalam across the state.

“Many evinced interest in joining as marketing agents, considering the good income, while over 750 traders would go around the town selling these ‘jamakkalams’ on any given day. Even the post office in the Bhavani area used to be abuzz with activity as parcels of ‘jamakkalams’ would be sent through courier to several states across India. Such was the demand for our jamakkalams some years ago,” said V Siddhaiyan, secretary of Bhavani Taluk Handloom Jamakkalam Blanket Weavers and Dyeing Workers Union-AITUC.

Over the years, the intrusion of ‘jamakkalams’ made in powerlooms and the entry of cheap variants of carpets from Solapur in Maharashtra began to take a heavy toll on the traditional handloom ‘jamakkalams’.

“It has been our persistent demand to curb the market from being flooded with cheap variants from the northern Indian state. Yet there has been no action for so many years. Even the government incurs a heavy loss in revenue,” added Siddhaiyan.

However, an official of the handlooms department said the carpets from Solapur are entirely different in their make from those woven in handlooms.

“They use a different raw material, which may resemble a handloom jamakkalam, but their dissimilarity in thickness and quality can be felt at a closer look. As they do not fall under the Handloom (Reservation of Articles for Protection) Act, 1985 Act, their sales cannot be curbed. Instead, we are creating awareness among the public on using handloom products,” the official said.

The department has been conducting outreach programmes in colleges to promote handloom products among the youth.

“To encourage youngsters to get into the handloom sector, handloom parks were developed in several districts across the state. These parks have inbuilt facilities with looms, where those interested may take up weaving and get paid at the end of the day for their work. Routine inspections were also being done to curb down sale of counterfeit ‘jamakkalams’,” the official added.

The weavers rued that despite these traditionally rich Bhavani ‘jamakkalam’ being recognised with a Geographical Indication (GI) by the Government of India in 2005 and good prospects for exports, the sector has been in crisis.

Besides addressing the issue of dismally low wages for workers, they demanded to exempt their produce from the five per cent GST.

Despite such setbacks, the tradition of rolling out new carpets on auspicious occasions has been breathing life into this sector, the weavers claimed.