Industry Watch: Over 10,000 Tailors who stitch school uniforms in Coimbatore reel under the COVID crisis

While the impact of COVID-19 is witnessed across many sectors, the school uniform stitching industry in the district has taken a huge hit due to the lockdown.

Valued at ₹200 crores per year, the business has been severely hit and more than 10,000 tailors, who specialize in school uniforms, are reeling under inexplicable financial distress, across the district. With the schools closed indefinitely due to the pandemic, the industry has come to a grinding halt.

Speaking to Simplicity, Hariram Yeswanth, owner of a school uniform stitching unit said, "On an average each school going student spends 210 days in schools and needs quite a few uniforms every year. More than 10,000 tailors depend on this industry. Each year, the season starts in September and lasts till July. On an average, each tailor earns around Rs 18,000 a month during this season. Like the other sectors, migrant workers do play a vital role here too."

Lamenting the stagnation in the 200 per annum industry, Hariram said, "Due to the lockdown, our industry sector is reeling under crisis. Like we do normally, we started accepting orders from schools in September,2019 and were going full swing to complete them. We have handed over a lot of uniforms to the school. They pay in parts. We cannot find faults with the schools as they are bearing the brunt of the COVID lockdown too. This being the case, many units such as ours have borrowed heavily too. The government has of course announced moratorium for EMIs up until August, but this will not help us at all. Therefore, the RBI should mandate the moratorium till at least February 2021. On behalf of the tailors, we are planning to submit a petition to the state government to this effect."

Saravanan, who owns a tailoring unit at Sulur said, "Under the circumstances, we cannot bear the financial crisis any more. The months of April and May are the peaks for our business, but this year, we have taken a huge hit on these months due to the COVID lockdown. Unable to bear the financial burden, many migrant tailors have gone back to their home states and districts. While the entire industry is reeling under crisis, we face immense pressure from banks and financial institutions for loan repayments. We welcome the moratorium announced by the Reserve bank of India. We request an extension of this relaxation for at least another six months which will help the industrialists in this sector to come out from the quandary they are in."