Rajanna-Sircilla: At a time when the textile industry in the country is experiencing a crisis due to the second wave of the Covid pandemic, the weavers at Sircilla are fully employed, thanks to Bathukamma sarees. In an effort to provide ongoing employment and ensure better income, orders for Bathukamma sarees have been placed over the past few years. This year, an order worth 350 million was placed to produce one crore sarees of 300 varieties by 15 September.
However, weaving did not gain momentum due to the Covid-19 outbreak and the ensuing lockdown, with labor shortages a bigger problem this year. While about 10,000 people, including power weavers, Asians, gumastas, pre-weaving operators and caravan operators, would normally be involved in the production, this time about 5,000 workers were employed.
As a result, only 8,000 power looms work against the 12,000 loom witnesses needed to reach the target. Workers belonging to other states stay away from weaving due to the Covid pandemic. Although a few workers were engaged in the work, a majority of them returned to their home states.
On the other hand, laborers from other parts of the state also do not stay away from weaving. The production process also started late due to a delay in the transportation of raw materials. As a result, only 70 to 80 lakh meters of cloth were produced compared to the 40 crore meter cloth needed to produce one crore sarees.
To promote the weaving activity, officers in the Handlooms and Textiles district regularly monitor the situation and provide face masks and disinfectants to laborers. The power weaving operators were also instructed to arrange meals at work for the laborers and to provide them with all the necessary support if they were infected with Covid.
In an interview with Telangana Today, Polu Shankar, the secretary of the Max Presidents’ Association, stated that they have yet to start working in a full-fledged way. A shortage of laborers as well as raw materials has become a major problem. When we go to stores to buy materials, we have to wait in line for hours together. Sometimes we can not buy materials because stores close early. As a result, the work was delayed, “he said.
Assistant Director, Handlooms and Textiles, Ashok Rao, attributed the delay in the works to the shortage of laborers. While some weavers were infected with Coronavirus, laborers from other countries went to their homeland. Workers from other parts of the state also do not live to work, he said, expressing confidence in tackling the weaving process after closure.
Source: Telangana Today