Manian announces 10 per cent DA for handloom weavers

The Minister also announced ten per cent dearness allowance for 66,000 handloom weavers belonging to 1,139 handloom weavers’ cooperative societies.

Replying to the discussion on the demand for grants to his ministry, he said the payment of dearness allowance would cost Rs 15 crore to the government exchequer. He also said ten per cent discount would be provided for the existing stock of silk clothes with the silk cooperative societies.

During the year 2017-2018, the handloom weavers’ cooperative societies produced 790.50 lakh metres of cloth and sold handloom goods to the value of 852.93 crore. He said Tamil Nadu produced 2003 million kilograms of spun yarn annually contributing 35 per cent of the total production in India.

Manian also said a design studio for the weavers working in the cooperative societies would be set up at Karur at a cost of Rs 34.7 lakh. He also said the state government wanted to improve the quality, shine and colour of zari being produced at Kancheepuram. The Minister also announced a training programme for analysis of textile market, meeting of investors and creating models for textile production. He also announced medical camps for weavers at 20 places and training for weavers to improve their skills.

Manian said all the Co-optex centres from the headquarters to all the places would be computerised and connected with an allocation of Rs 5 crore. Five of the Co-optex sales centres would be modernised to face the competition.

A solar power unit would be set up at Co-optex headquarters to reduce electricity charges and preserve the environment, he said and added that new varieties of sarees would be introduced in Coimbatore and Madurai cooperative societies.

Tamil Nadu is perennially short of raw silk, depending on neighbouring Karnataka and import from China as the state produces only 1,984 metric tonnes against the estimated demand of 3,000 tonnes, Khadi and Village Industries Minister G Baskaran told the state Assembly on Friday.

Replying to the debate on the demand for grants to his ministry, he said the government is trying to help the production of silk locally by running a chain of basic seed farms supplying basic seed for commercial seed production meant for sericulture farmers.

He said eleven grainages operated by the state government is supplying disease free silkworm layings to the sericulture farmers. Silkworm eggs produced by the Coimbatore, Erode, Talavady, Hosur, Krishnagiri, Pennagaram, Dharmapuri and Vaniyambadi grainages are preserved in the multigraded cold storages units and supplied to the sericulture farmers.

On the performance of Poompuhar, the Minister said its turnover had come down from Rs 40.36 crore last year to Rs 35.30 crore in 2017-2018. But, he expressed confidence that it would achieve a turnover of Rs 65 crore this fiscal.

The government had sold khadi and polyvastra goods worth Rs 11.57 crore. The Khadi department had sold soap worth Rs 6.92 crore, he said varieties of bathing soaps such as neem, sandal, glycerine, mooliga and Kumari are produced by the department. He said the Kumari soap containing aloevera had captured a good market.

Baskaran also announced renovation of khadi marketing centres in four districts and revival of the honey processing unit at Javvadhu hills in Tiruvannamalai.

He announced addition of infrastructure facilities at khadicraft’s soap factories in Thirukkazhukundram in Kancheepuram district, Samayapuram in Tiruchy and Panrutti in Cuddalore district.

The Minister also announced new infrastructure facilities for palm jaggery production and the procurement of a vehicle for sale of palm and khadi products.