Farmers says no to amendment of Silk Board Act

Bangalore, Jan 6: Close on the heels of the strong opposition tothe new amendments in the Central Silk Board (CSB) Act, by farmers andreelers in Karnataka, weavers, a section of reelers and exporters havesought CSB to immediately implement the changes in the Act to benefitthe industry, otherwise doomed the State.

Addressing a press conference here today, Karnataka WeaversFederation President T V Maruti said it was high time the amendment wasimplemented to put an end to the hardships faced by the weavers due tovarious restrictions imposed by the State Government.

He said the existing rules governing silk exchanges and the actsof enforcement department of the Department of Sericulture had impededthe growth of the silk industry in the state, which remained a cottageindustry, while China, Brazil and Uzbekistan had succeeded in turningthe silk industry highly profitable.

Meanwhile, more than 40 members of various silk reelers, weavers,and export associations, led by Mr Maruti, also the Indian Silk ExportPromotion Council Chairman, met CSB Chairman H Hanumanthappa yesterday,seeking immediate intervention by the board to restore the lost gloryof silk to Karnataka, a primary silk producer in the country.

However fearing doomsday, silk farmers from the state feel thatthe new sets of rules would badly affect the small farmers who form 70per cent of the silk producers in the country.

According to official sources, they wanted that the state controlof silk, hampering development of the industry in the state, should beminimised so that the industry could thrive. The setting up ofregulated markets for cocoon and silk had not yielded the desiredresult, they claimed.

With both the farming community and the weaving and exportcommunity projecting contrasting views on the amendment, the state wasnow in the thick of a silk war among stake holders.

The sericulture and reeling community had been persistently opposingthe amendments, aimed at faster development of the industry withoutdisplacing the existing system and corporatising the industry byfavouring contract farming and allowing direct dealing by weavingfactories with silk producers without middlemen and regulated markets,now prevalent in Karnataka.

It also aimed at production of quality silkworm seed in sufficientquantities to meet the increasing demand and put a seed certificationsystem in place to ensure that the quality of seed was maintaineduniformly.

Mr Maruti and other members of the delegation expressed upon theboard that in view of the State intervention, the quality of silk hadreduced drastically and uniform variety of yarn in huge quantity couldnot be procured from the Silk Exchange.

A number of powerloom and handloom weavers have migrated to theneighbouring States in view of better conditions and availability ofyarn, they claimed.

The trade bodies also welcomed the decision to allow import ofautomatic reeling machines from China to ensure that large quantity ofquality silk was produced in the country.

The CSB had taken up the initiative to enhance silk production inthe country, which was only about 17,000 tonnes as against the demandof over 26,000 tonnes. Despite a strong lobby working against import ofChinese silk, the country had been meeting the gap between supply anddemand through import.

However, the CSB felt that steps should be in place so that thedomestic production increased steeply in a short period of time toensure that the country's sericulture farmers were not inconveniencedby import of huge quantity of silk.

UNI

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