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SOCIETY
Tamil Nadu lungis popular, but weavers in penury
Chennai:
Over 1,500 handloom Lungi (waist wrap) weavers in
Tamil Nadu are facing an uncertain future with their
traditional profession on the verge of extinction.
Despite having a huge demand in foreign countries
for Lungis, these weavers are compelled to live a
pitiable life because of exploitation by middlemen.
The numbers of weavers, which were in thousands, have
dwindled down in the last five years. "I have been
working for the last 30 years and in the past five
years, business has been very dull. In a day, if we
work for 10 hours, we make only 40 rupees (less than
one dollar).They are traders and middlemen who buy
from us and export to Dubai, Singapore, Malaysia,
but in return we do not get any benefit. People are
leaving this profession," says Siddharth, a weaver.
Lungis are exported to America, Egypt, Malaysia, Saudi
Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka and the UAE. The weavers'
association wants the Government to intervene in the
matter of supplying raw material and marketing finished
products. "There are some branded companies which
supply us thread and other raw material at the rates
fixed by them. We have to sell the lungis to them
at prices fixed by them. This way we get less profit,
and hence, we pay lesser wage. Their lungis are sold
at Rs.180-200 (4-5 dollar). If the Government directly
gives us the raw materials and then buy the products
directly from us, we will be able to manage our costs,"
says V. Devaraji Sengunthar, President of Kundrathur
Puthuvataram Handloom Producers Association. A lungi
is a sarong-like garment, often of brightly coloured
silk or cotton, and is popular in South India. Places
like Anakaputhur, Kundrathur and Thirumazhisai on
the outskirts of Chennai are the hubs of lungi-weaving.Tamil
Nadu, accounting for nearly 30 per cent of the country's
handloom textiles production and 50 per cent of exports,
has over 6,00,000 handloom units and 1,400 cooperative
societies.
-Aug
25, 2005
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