RAJANNA-SIRCILLA: A 55-year-old weaver, Alok Kumar, was found hanging in the textile park on Tuesday morning. Hailing from Uttar Pradesh, Alok Kumar had recently migrated to Sircilla for work.
Police said a preliminary investigation revealed that he was depressed at not being able to find work as the textile park and power loom sectors in Rajanna-Sircilla are facing a shutdown due to the lack of government orders and marketing facilities.
For the past few days, the textile park in Badenapalli, Thagallapalli mandal, and the power loom sector in Sircilla town have come to a standstill. The closure has resulted in a huge volume of cloth — lakhs of metres — piled up at Small Scale Industries (SSI) units. Sources said that approximately 15 lakh metres of cloth is produced daily from the power loom units in Sircilla.
The abrupt halt has left workers in both the textile park and power loom sector idle, facing uncertainty about their employment. The lack of work has created a tough situation for weaving labourers ahead.
Rajesham, a power loom worker, expressing concern about the future, said that uncertainty looms large for weaving labourers starting Wednesday.
The shutdown has hit the livelihoods of about 30,000 power looms producing polyester cloth. Nearly 10,000 weaving labourers and 5,000 dependent workers have lost their employment, prompting CITU district secretary Kodam Ramana to demand the government’s intervention. Ramana urged the government to hold discussions with owners of power looms so that daily wage weaving labourers do not suffer.
BRS working president KT Rama Rao, accompanied by former MP B Vinod Kumar visited Sircilla on Tuesday to take stock of the situation. Rama Rao appealed for government support for the textile sector so that it could compete with the Tirupur cluster in Tamil Nadu.
Polyester unit owners met with Rama Rao and BRS representatives plan to discuss the issue with Textile Minister Thummala Nageswara Rao. Meanwhile, Nageswara Rao directed officials to ensure government orders for Mutually Aided Cooperative Societies and SSI units.
Textile department director Alugu Varshini instructed Handlooms and Textiles regional director V Ashok Rao to submit a detailed report on the issues plaguing the polyester industry.
Ashok Rao informed the minister that orders for RVM shirting cloth had been placed with the textile park, where 1,100 advanced looms operate across 60 units. He said that production was expected to resume within a day or two.
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