Pondy: Demo on Min remarks on Pontex

Puducherry, Sep 10: Members of the Handloom Trade Protection Committee comprising CITU, AITUC, AICCTU, INTUC, ATU and Pontex trade union today took out a procession and held a demonstration in front of the Legislative Assembly to protest Welfare Minister M Kandasamy's remarks on the clothes supplied by Pontex for free distribution.

The Communist Party of India(Marxist) State Secretary V Perumal and former Secretary T Murugan led the procession.

They later submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister N Rangasamy pointing out that the administration had granted them the contract for the supply of clothes meant for free distribution in 1996 as their trade became sick and to retrive them from their plight.

The clothes were being supplied for the last several years and there were no complaints on the quality. However, the Minister had stated recently that the quality of the clothes supplied by Pontex was not satisfactory and the Government would purchase polyester clothes from private parties for Diwali festival.

They demanded that Mr Kandasamy should withdraw his statement and urged Mr Rangasami to protect the lives of thousands of handloom weavers in the Union Territory.

UNI