Karnataka: Tricolour fabric-makers face flagging fortunes
More than hundred weavers, all of them are women, have been struggling to make both ends meet due to the paltry wages being paid to them.
Hubballi: The flag is not fluttering high at the Tricolour cotton fabric weaving centres in the tiny hamlets of Tulasigeri and Jalihal villages in Bagalkot district, which supply cloth for manufacturing the national flag-in fact these centres are facing the threat of closure.
More than hundred weavers, all of them are women, have been struggling to make both ends meet due to the paltry wages being paid to them. This has led to a stagnation in the production of Tricolour cloth over the past few years.
The severe drought in the district in 1982 had left thousands of people without viable options for feeding themselves. In an attempt to combat the situation and generate employment opportunities, Khadi weaving centres were opened in more than twenty villages in the district. Tulasigeri and Jalihal villages were also chosen to give a thrust to women empowerment. Later, these two villages pipped Garag village of Dharwad taluk to bag the monopoly in manufacture of flag cloth in the country. The cloth is manufactured as per strict standards and is being supplied to National Flag Manufacturing Unit at Bengeri in Hubballi ,the only centre in the country authorised by the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC). But, the shortage of workers has jeopardised the prospects of the Khadi Centre in both villages as weavers are deprived of adequate wages and other government facilities.
“Each worker manufactures a maximum 20 metres of cloth per day and is paid Rs 10 per metre. They hardly get Rs 150 to Rs 200 wages every day. But, these Centres are finding it difficult to get skilled workers who can manufacture flag cloth according to Bureau of Indian Standards as they are being offered more than '400 wages for working in agricultural land surrounding the villages. Therefore, these workers need good wages,” said Tulasigeri Khadi Centre manager Veerappa Menasagi.
The two Khadi Centres manufacture around 5,000 metres of flag cloth and generate revenue of Rs 12 lakh per month.
The flags prepared from the cloth flutter at the iconic Red Fort and other government institutions across the country. But, these Centres have failed to increase production to meet the rising demand due to shortage of labour. The government has not fulfilled their demand though the women workers have submitted several pleas to elected representatives to provide them facilities and pension after retirement.