Handloom weavers protest, demand sufficient work

HUBBALLI: Demanding sufficient work, incentive and other amenities, members of Akhila Karnataka Kaimagga Nekarara Sangha protested in front of the Karnataka Handloom Development Corporation Limited (KHDCL) office at Vidyanagar here on Thursday.
“Many handlooms have stopped working, and weavers are shifting to other professions due to the negligence and harassment of KHDCL officials. Handloom weavers are not given sufficient work by KHDCL and the clothes woven by them are also rejected in the name of quality control,” they charged.
“Depositing wages with bank accounts, instead of cash payment, is also causing trouble for weavers. The development of weavers' colonies has been neglected and community halls are also not constructed as promised,” the protesters said.
Sangha vice-president Ningappa Malavade charged that irregularities to the tune of Rs 20 crore has taken place in the process of KHDCL procuring clothes worth Rs 80 crore from outside. “Why did KHDCL purchase clothes from outside instead of giving work to weavers? The 15% incentive to weavers has also been stopped,” he said.
Vittappa Gorantli, Nagappa Bannigidad, Basavaraj Ganapa, Suresh Ganamukhi and others led the protest. Several women weavers took part in the protest.
KHDCL managing director Ramachandra received a memorandum from the protesters. He refuted the allegation about financial irregularities and promised to take suitable steps for the benefit of weavers.
Later Ramachandra told reporters that there were some issues which need to be addressed by the government. He added that he would look into weavers’ demands personally and solve them immediately. The incentive to weavers was stopped in 2017 and the proposal to restart it is lying with government and is under verification, he added.
Speaking on the issue of maintaining quality of textile material by the education department for providing uniforms to school children, he said extra care was taken to provide material as per the requirements of the department. He added that weavers were meeting the demand as per the expectations of the education department.