HYDERABAD: A native of Venkampet in Rajanna Sircilla district, Laxminarayana works on the loom for 12 hours a day, from 6 am to 6 pm. In the evening, his son Mohan runs the loom, till six the next morning. Eventually, Mohan had to discontinue his studies.Knowing about the benefits of rapier loom, Laxminarayana got one shuttle loom upgraded using a conversion kit. The subsequent productivity jump was such that the single upgraded machine reportedly performed with the same efficiency levels as four shuttle looms combined. Today, Mohan is back to studying, pursuing MCA at a nearby college.
The man behind the transformation in their lives is Ravinder Vannam, co-founder of rapier conversion kit.
“My father was working for DBR Mills in the city. I have been seeing shuttle looms from my childhood. They are slow and laborious, whose productivity levels are low while energy consumption is high. The rapier weighs just 200 gm, and energy required to propel a rapier is low when compared to a shuttle. It reduces the drudgery for the weaver.”
The innovation was awarded a Gold medal by the Centre’s Department of Science and Technology, and Lockheed Martin during the India Innovation Programme held in New Delhi in 2014.Each machine will help save three tonnes of carbon dioxide, 16 kg of sulphur dioxide and 8 kg of nitrogen oxides from being released into the environment. There are currently 22 lakh such looms operational in India currently. Imagine the amount of energy saved by converting them to rapier, he asks.
Interestingly, a case study done in March 2016 by Spurthi Kolipaka, currently working as an adviser to Telangana government on behalf of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), highlights the state of powerloom workers in Sircilla, and advocates the use of in-situ upgradation of Shuttle looms.
On the interest shown by people, Ravinder says, “In November, there was a mela in Rajanna Sircilla on in-situ upgradation of Shuttle looms, where we had put our stalls. Many people had shown a liking.”
While the Centre offers a 50 percent subsidy, the Telangana government has recently announced an additional 50 percent subsidy which can be availed by weavers.
However, Ravinder feels more needs to be done to improve productivity in the sector. “We cannot afford to pay 18 percent GST on the machines currently. We also need financial support to manufacture the conversion kits on a mass scale. And the GST must be made nil for these kits, which would help the weaver community enormously,” he adds.
Ravinder’s brother Narender is the other co-founder of the project, who is based in Solapur, Maharashtra, where over 50 Shuttle looms have been upgraded in-situ to rapier looms. “Our invention is to help those individuals who cannot import the expensive rapier looms. Using this, the dearth of manpower in the handloom industry can be effectively addressed,” he points out.Those interested in getting more information on the conversion kits can contact Ravinder Vannam on 70361 99102 or his brother Narender Vannam on 90297 16000.