Power loom weavers in Surat have been rattled by the recent ban in Assam on the sale of power loom-manufactured Mekhela Sador and Gamusa. Surat makes for over 60 per cent of the consumption of the North Eastern state.
Traders across Assam have also been concerned by the ban which was announced by CM Himanta Biswa Sarma.
“Just like the drive against child marriage, another drive against the sale of power loom produced Gamusas, and Mekhela Sador will be carried out across Assam,” the CM said.
Deputy Commissioners and the SPs of all districts in Assam were directed by the CM to initiate immediate steps to seize power loom products from March 1.
Machine-made gamusas have been slowly phased out by traders in the market, but the short notice of the ban on power loom-produced mekhela sador and the announcement coming during the peak season has made the traders nervous.
“Most of the traders have heavily invested in procurement of mekhela sador from outside the state for the upcoming Rongali Bihu season,” a trader was quoted as saying.
Traders in Assam may have invested around up to Rs 2,000 crores collectively for procurement of mekhela sador for the upcoming Rongali Bihu festival, said another trader.
“And that the power loom products have been banned suddenly, the traders across Assam will incur huge losses,” he said, adding that more than 10,000 families are directly or indirectly associated with the trade.
General secretary of the Federation of Surat Textile Traders Association (FOSTA), Champalal Bothra, was quoted as saying the sudden ban “on one hand, will impact around 700 to 800 traders and 300 to 400 weavers along with the labourers associated with the looms producing Mekhala Sador in Surat that has a turnover of around Rs 3,000 crore annually.”
He added that many traders in Assam who had stocked the already produced goods are now looking at returning the same. “So, it is a double-whammy for us.” “We have met Darshana Jardosh, MoS Textiles, and she has heard us out,” Bothra said. “But there has been no clear resolution so far.”
