Understanding Powerloom Weavers' Suicides in Sircilla
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
COMMENTARY d istribution of value among different Understanding Powerloom agents involved in the process. Weavers’ Suicides in Sircilla Growth of the Powerloom Sector The beginning of powerloom activity in Sircilla is linked to the decline of the mill S Galab, E Revathi s ector in Mumbai and Bhiwandi in the early 1960s. When the mills were closed An oligopolistic market, ecent suicides by weavers in the in Mumbai and Bhiwandi, the migrant fluctuating market conditions, traditional powerloom industry workers in these mills from Sircilla re- inadequate modernisation and R in Sircilla in Karimnagar district turned home with traditional powerlooms in the northern Telangana r egion of which they purchased for Rs 2,000-3,000 the subordinate status of hired A ndhra Pradesh have once again raised when they were being sold as scrap mate- workers have contributed to the the ugly head of underlying deep-rooted rial and started establishing the looms on poor living conditions of workers distress among the weaving community their own. The eventual dismantling of the in Sircilla, a powerloom centre in the area. Suicides have been reported erstwhile organised mill sector in Mumbai time and again in 1998, 2001 and in 2008 and Bhiwandi ended up in the develop- of Andhra Pradesh. The state in Sircilla. It is rather intriguing as to ment of unorganised weaving activity in and central governments need why there is a persisting crisis in the small towns such as Sircilla. The operation to intervene in a more organised powerloom sector despite the fact that of the first set of four powerlooms was fashion to end the distress. In the the sector has emerged as a major started in 1962. By 1970, there were about p roducer of cloth in the country. From a 2,000 looms, which rose to 10,000 looms short run, the state governments c ursory diagnosis it is evident that the by 1990. The number further increased to should source procurement of c risis is more confined to the hired nearly 18,000 looms by 2002. The bulk of cloth for supply to various welfare w orker segment of the powerloom sector the looms in Sircilla are traditional power- schemes from the powerloom in Sircilla. looms on which cotton/polyester is w oven. The incidence of indebtedness is wide- In 2001 and 2002 the powerloom industry producers. In the medium spread among the hired workers, while in Sircilla was badly hit. Loom owners term the central government the level is high among the job workers sold off their looms because of i nadequate should make it possible for the (weavers with own looms). On an average demand for and rising stock of cloth and powerloom operators to access a hired worker’s family has a debt burden during this period, suicides were high of between Rs 30,000 and Rs 50,000 (Frontline 2001). funds from the existing textile while that of a job worker is around The reasons for the 2001 crisis could be modernisation schemes. Rs 3,00,000. Food insecurity, mal- traced to the liberalisation policy from nutrition, anaemia and other health- 1991 onwards, followed by central govern- related problems such as tuberculosis, ments. Yarn prices shot up as huge quanti- asthma and gynaecological illnesses ties of cotton and yarn were exported; ex- among women; houselessness, and a cise duty on cone yarn was raised to 9.25% high dropout rate among children are pushing up yarn prices further; pro- some of the issues that have character- duction of 25 counts of yarn declined ised the multiple deprivations among and removal of quantitative restrictions the w orkers. Added to this a high inci- led to dumping of cheap imports from dence of a lcoholism and increased de- C hina and Thailand. Besides, the govern- pendence on microfinance institutions for ment led by Andhra Pradesh Chief day to day credit needs have further M inister Chandrababu Naidu raised r esulted in d eterioration of living condi- p ower charges four times from 1995 to tions. G overnment welfare programmes 2001 as part of the reform process. As a have been inadequate and are inefficient result, the weaving costs soared and in terms of targeting and coverage, r eturns thinned which resulted in a ccording to a report prepared by Krushi, i ncreased stress. Till then the powerlooms a local NGO. used were mostly of the 42, 44 and 46 inch The appalling living conditions of the types, p roducing short length cloth. weavers are the fallout of the production As a palliative step in the post-crisis S Galab ([email protected]) and E Revathi conditions prevalent in Sircilla. The pro- p eriod, the Andhra Pradesh Electricity are with the Centre for Economic and Social duction conditions determine the growth Regulatory Commission had reduced the Studies, University of Hyderabad. of the powerloom sector as well as the power tariff from Rs 1.74 to 0.87 per unit 12 february 21, 2009 vol xliv no 8 EPW Economic & Political Weekly COMMENTARY up to 5 HP in 2001. After 2003, the number and with the capacity to invest in the siz- simply may be getting job workers to do of looms started to rise once again. Most ing and processing units to adapt to chang- the production. There was also a rise in of them were 56 inch looms on which ing demand are not m arket savvy and lack the number of the middle layer jobbers. longer length cloth used for saris could be enterprise to take the initiative, while the This layer of job workers owns between produced. Weavers mobilised capital for smaller master weavers who have emerged two and three pairs of looms to 20 pairs the looms on their own by sale of assets with the growth of the industry lack ade- (40 looms) with an a verage size of around such as land and gold. Besides, the govern- quate capital. More over, the big master six pairs; the smaller owners also renting ment also opened yarn depots in S ircilla in weavers and the traders have been corner- a pair or two,2 working on the looms and 2003 supplying yarn directly to the job ing a larger share of the value of output also employing weavers on a daily wage workers. The job workers were provided even in the context of stagnation and have basis. The last in the hierarchy are the with bank loans and credit card facility to a vested interest in perpetuating this sys- hired workers w ithout any looms, working the extent of Rs 25,000 for working capital tem. Thus the growth of this sector in for the job workers on wages. There are needs. However, this move was pre-empted terms of diversification has remained stag- 13,000 to 14,000 such workers in Sircilla by the master weavers by supplying yarn at nant. Further as part of the central gov- engaged in many types of acti vities such as a lower price than supplied by the yarn de- ernment’s liberalisation policy the power- warping, drawing, mechanics, dyeing, siz- pot. One fallout of the reduction in the looms were removed from the small-scale ing units for c otton, etc. The number of power charges was the increase in the sector thereby allowing big players such wage workers engaged in weaving activity number of looms, and the other was the in- as R eliance and Mafatlal in the market. To exclusively is around 11,000 and along crease in the profit margins of the master facilitate these big entrants the centre re- with job workers a total of 14,500-15,000 weavers as they reduced the rate per metre duced customs duty on imported machin- work on nearly 30,000 looms in two shifts3 given to the job workers justifying reduced ery from 15% to 5% and also provided 50% (A ssistant Director, Textiles and Handloom production costs. subsidy on machinery under the Technol- Department, 2008). None of the units The cloth produced by Sircilla power- ogy Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS). are registered. looms is mostly low quality 80×80 counts However, the bulk of the powerloom Master weavers are linked to the polyester, and to a limited extent 20×20 weavers are unable to avail of the TUFS be- H yderabad market to get yarn and sell counts grey cotton cloth, catering to the cause of problems such as inability to meet cloth to the mills either directly or through poor. Till 1990 however, the major produc- accounting requirements of bankers for agents. They are not a homogeneous class; tion was predominantly of cotton products loans because of small size, non- viable the 4-5 bigger master weavers have nearly – dhotis, shirts, handkerchiefs, etc, the ma- technology, inadequate working capital as 50% of cloth production collected under jor market for these products being Mahar- per “working c apital availability require- them while the rest 50% production is ashtra. But as production costs soared, ment” and in ability to raise the required shared by the other (nearly 100) master there was a switch from pro duction of cot- powerloom contribution of 35% (Annual weavers. About 10,000 to 15,000 looms ton to low quality polyester, an inter- Report, 2005-06, Ministry of Textiles, run under the bigger master weavers pro- mediate product used for salwar kameez, G overnment of India). ducing around 15 lakh metres of cloth per printed saris, banners and decoration. month. The rest of the master weavers There is no post-weaving processing in Structure of Production have a collection of around four lakh to Sircilla, except for cheap dyeing in case of Until 1970, the structure of production in five lakh metres of cloth per month.