The increased price of raw materials has led to the stagnation of saree sales and the weavers are asking for an end to the production of some technically coded varieties in power looms. The weavers are demanding the implementation of a health insurance scheme for weavers, payment of Rs 10,000 per month to 60-year-old weavers and freedom from GST for the cottage industry weaving.
Tirupur: Handloom weavers in Malayandipattinam village near Udumalai in Tirupur district are on a one-day symbolic hunger strike to demand that their families' livelihoods be protected.
Due to an increase in the price of raw materials during the hunger strike, the sale price of the saree increases and the saree stagnates.
Therefore, we must exclude our cottage sector from GST. Several requests were renewed, including the introduction of a health insurance system for weavers, the payment of Rs 10,000 per month to 60-year-old weavers, and the prohibition of specific technically coded kinds from being manufactured on powerlooms, among others. Some technical code varieties should not be allowed to be produced in the powerloom.
More than 500 people from around the state, including Malayandipattinam, Kural Kuttai, and Ramegoundanpudur, joined the hunger strike with their families to press for various demands.