Stir enters 4th day, match stocks worth Rs 100 crore pile up in three districts

The accumulated stocks has climbed up to about eight lakh bundles since July 20, when the strike began. On an average, around two lakh bundles of safety matches are produced in these factories.

The prevailing situation is certainly a cause for concern among manufacturers, who are genuine tax payers, J Devadoss, secretary, South India Match Manufacturers Association, Kovilpatti, told DT Next on Monday.

About 50 to 60 lorries were relied on to carry daily loads from Kovilpatti, which is the largest producer of safety matches in the country, to various destinations.

Despite the lorry stir, production of safety matches is going on unhindered in the factories to protect the livelihoods of thousands of workers dependent on it.

“This traditional labour-intensive industry already took a beating due to the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Even when the market was unreliable, the manufacturers had to shell out money for GST. While GST payments were being made on a routine basis, we are not able to pay wages to the workers due to the lorry strike,” Devadoss said.

M Paramasivam, president, National Small Match Manufacturers Association, Kovilpatti, said that goods worth Rs 100 crore has been accumulated in recent days. Besides helping to transport the finished goods, the lorries also play a key role in shifting the necessary raw materials like potassium chlorate, phosphorus, potassium dichromate, sulphur, wax, wooden splints from various parts of Kerala, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Pune and Assam to the factories.

Since the raw materials are available for the next few days, Paramasivam said he expected production to be not affected. “However, we are keeping our fingers crossed that the strike would end soon,” he added.