BHIWANDI HOPES

Bhiwandi power loom sector is happy that the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs gave its approval to the implementation of the Comprehensive Power loom Cluster Development Scheme at Bhiwandi (Maharashtra) as a Central Sector Plan Scheme.


Manzar Bilal Qasmi
manzarqasmi13@gmail.com

The writer is a trainee journalist with MMERC, Mumbai

Recently, a delegation under the leadership of ex-MLA Rashid Tahir Momin met the state finance minister Mr. Patang Rao Kadam and requested him not to take a monetary fine from power looms owners. It is noteworthy that power loom owners pay eleven thousand yearly per power loom. In case of non- payment the power looms are seized by government officials which they claimed was totally unjust, because only gram panchayats and municipal corporations have the right to collect these kinds of penalties.

However, Mr. Patang assured the delegation that soon he would take a joint meeting with officials, district collector and representatives of power loom workers and would try to find a workable solution to this problem. He announced an immediate ban on collecting fines till any decision is taken.

Bhiwandi, known for its powerlooms all over the world, is situated about 50 kilometers from Mumbai in Maharashtra state. It is a key textile center of western India and comes under the administration of the Bhiwandi-Nizampur Municipal Corporation. According to a census, the total population of the Bhiwandi-Nizampur Municipal Corporation area is about 598,703.

Bhiwindi has approximately 12 lakhs powerlooms, which is 33% of country's total power looms. The turnover of this segment is projected to be around Rs.10,000 crores annually.

When textile mills in Mumbai and Gujarat were closed down, it was Bhiwandi's proximity to Mumbai's textile trading market and its already established handloom mills that made it a viable area for cloth production. In fact, several well-known mill brands now get most of their cloth from looms in Bhiwandi.

A majority of the powerlooms in Bhiwandi produce grey materials which are used as shirting and dress material. Cloth produced in Bhiwandi is mainly consumed by Indian market as it is not up to the mark in the international market. One reason for that is the second-hand technology. Most of the power looms in Bhiwandi are obsolete and old, as manufacturers over here prefer low-priced second hand power looms over new looms. Excluding some big players most of the units run in Bhiwandi are small units and could not afford to purchase or import high-priced machinery.

Despite being the country's largest power loom centre, Bhiwandi does not have the appearance of even a town. It looks more like a sprawling slum. There is very little development in the area. Open sewers and garbage dumps are seen everywhere. Most workers live in kuccha houses with tin roofs. Hopeless poverty is seen all round. No proper water or power supply is available to the residents.

Power consumption in Bhiwandi circle is around 2400 million units and more than 50% of this is consumed by the power loom sector. Power cut has been a daily story of this region. Although regular supply of electricity is lifeline of this industry it is facing hard times as there is a load shedding of 9-10 hours and that too everyday.

Workers are not happy in Bhiwandi

Workers in Bhiwandi live miserable lives since they have not been given sufficient salaries though government ruling in 1971 set down minimum wages for workers, but rarely are they given the fixed monthly salary according to the government ruling. Seeing their bleak future, workers have started to give up working at power looms that lead power looms owners to face several kinds of problems.

“Earlier in Bhiwandi you could pick up anyone off the road and he was willing to work in the loom for any amount. But now we are facing problems for lack of workers. Subsequently owners are forced to close down their looms.” said a trade union activist.

Shankar Chakarverti, the leader of workers union, said, “Bhiwandi has more than 10 lakh power looms in which most of the workers come from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Since they do not get sufficient salary, they now prefer other jobs or to go back home. Mostly they are not paid more than 3,000-4,000 for the whole month on which their entire families are dependent.”

Munir a worker, who is skilled in operating both the English and the Japanese machines, earns between Rs.3, 500 and Rs.4, 000 a month. He pays Rs.500 towards rent, Rs, 1000 for food. He sends the rest of his earnings to his family in U.P., which depends entirely on his salary.

Another worker Ramesh Yadav said, “There are no toilets, not even water to drink. We stand most of the time in queue to go to the toilet while we are already very tired. If I make even a small mistake on the fabric or if a little grease gets on the material, I can be fired." said Yadav adding that he has not been working for two weeks because of a leg injury while working on the loom. "The owner would not pay for my treatment," he said expressing his grief.

What is wrong with owners?

Akhter Ansari, Praween Jain, Ganesh Agarwal, Babu Lal Jain, Anil Kumar and many other power loom owners accept the fact that since they do not get even break-even prices of the cloths and are unable to pay better salaries to workers. But they also add that one of the root causes behind the fate of workers at powerlooms is the violence raised by MNS workers which forced North Indian workers to return home. They are facing two kinds of trouble: less income and lack of workers. In this scenario the once thriving powerloom industry has reached its nadir and powerlooms are closing down day by day. Industry leaders of the region have been shouting for help from the government to revive the sector

However, in this critical condition, this news made them hopeful that the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs gave its approval to the implementation of the Comprehensive Power loom Cluster Development Scheme at Bhiwandi (Maharashtra) and Erode (Tamil Nadu) as a Central Sector Plan Scheme with a budget provision of Rs.140 crore i.e. Rs.70 crore for each cluster during the XI Five Year Plan in order to assist the entrepreneurs to set up world-class units with modern infrastructure, latest technology and adequate training and Human Resource Development (HRD) inputs along with appropriate market linkages.

The approved clusters would provide requisite support and linkages in terms of infrastructure and technology progression, product diversification, design development, raw material bank, marketing and promotion, credit, social security and other components that are vital for sustainability of weavers engaged in the decentralized power loom sector.

The clusters would also provide road connectivity, power supply, water supply, water reservoir with water harvesting facility, drainage and sewage lines, streetlights, secured compound wall and wire fence, solid waste disposal plant or effluent treatment plant, transportation facility etc.

The implementation of the scheme will benefit the weavers in developing and diversifying into new designs and products, providing a suitable workplace, market support etc. to improve their earnings and socio-economic conditions.

The scheme will be implemented through Public Private Partici patrion (PPP) model between central/state government, weavers and their groups who are financially creditworthy and commercially linked.

When EC talked to people of Bhiwandi to know their feelings about this scheme, Faizan Azmi, president of the Maharashtra State Powerloom Industry said “This will be for the betterment of the powerlooms sector and the city. We had been demanding some sort of help for the city. We had also met the textile minister and the Union agriculture minister to help us out,” he added.

“Powerloom owners need bank loans and electricity at subsided rates for improvement of the sector,” said Zahid Mukhtar, who owns 144 powerloom units in Bhiwandi. “As per my knowledge the scheme has all the facilities we needed for a long time but it depends on implementation,” he pointed out.

“I don't know anything about the scheme. But if anything good is happening for the city, we are happy with it,” said 65-year-old Azimullah, a native of Allahabad who has been a powerloom worker in Bhiwandi for 35 years.

“We need electricity for more hours every day, first,” said Mohammed Ibrahim Makhdum (35), another power loom worker and a native of Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh who earns a monthly salary of Rs 5,000. “If this load-shedding continues for nine to 10 hours everyday, we lose out on precious hours of work and money as well.”

Although Bhiwandi power loom sector is happy at this announcement and most take this as a positive step for the industry, they are waiting for the day when they will see the scheme implemented in the sector. Because they have been promised relief packages several times in the past, but they did not receive any help.

In 2004-5 the central government announced Rs. 125 crores for the development of power looms and likewise the state government also promised to cut 55% electricity bill for powerloom owners but it remained a promise only. Therefore, most of the people in Bhiwandi think the belated steps taken by the government are only to collect the votes in forthcoming elections and it will not make much difference to their lives as they had been duped time and again by both the central and state governments.