The Hindu : Dist. panchayat to revive traditional industries

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Apr 01, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala-Thiruvananthapuram

Dist. panchayat to revive traditional industries

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM MARCH 31. The District Panchayat would focus on intensifying paddy cultivation and reviving traditional industries such as coir and handloom, which are in deep crisis.

An ambitious project to increase paddy cultivation to 2,000 ha in the district has been envisaged in the budget, which was adopted today. A sum of Rs.1.62 crores has been set apart for the agriculture sector. The budget shows an income of Rs. 32.86 crores, an expenditure of Rs.31.33 crores and a balance of Rs. 1.53 crores.

The District Panchayat vice-president and the Finance Standing Committee chairman, Anavoor Nagappan, said accent would be laid on increasing the paddy cover in the district for which novel schemes had been planned. Considering the crisis gripping the traditional industries such as the handloom and coir sectors, the budget has set apart Rs. 20 lakhs for the handloom sector and Rs. 19 lakhs for modernisation of the coir sector.

The panchayat would set up a thread bank for reviving the handloom sector, mainly for individual weavers who work on one loom. "No one has considered the plight of such weavers who do it as a cottage industry and hence it has been decided to give them a helping hand," he said.

The panchayat would supply thread at a reasonable price to these indigent weavers and their finished goods would be marketed through the self-help groups (SHGs) under the panchayat. Mr. Nagappan said the panchayat would insist on quality and marketing such goods would not be difficult for the SHGs.

Mechanisation of the coir sector is another thrust area. A project to convert pith into bio-fertilizer has been envisaged. "The panchayat needs bio-fertilizer worth Rs. 50 lakhs annually and hence it would be one of the major consumers," he said.

Yet another major allocation is for the development of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. A sum of Rs. 4 crores has been allocated for the various projects. Autorickshaw driving classes will be given to 100 Scheduled Caste youth and the Panchayat would facilitate bank loans to the unemployed youth. A subsidy of Rs. 20,000 each will be distributed for buying autorickshaws.

A self-employment scheme to help handicapped youth set up small shops and trade has been envisaged. Each beneficiary would get Rs. 15,000. Mr. Nagappan clarified that the subsidy would be remitted only in the bank and the cash would not be distributed to the beneficiaries. Training would be imparted on garment-making and designing to women, he said.

Lack of marketing outlets is a major hitch for the SHGs that manufacture `swadeshi' goods. The Panchayat would open swadeshi stalls in the all the 25 divisions to market the goods of the SHGs. The products of Indian companies also would be sold through these centres, he said.

The budget was adopted after discussion today. The members of the Opposition too took part in the discussion. Out of the 25 seats in the Panchayat, the LDF has 14 members and the UDF 11.

Referring to the fracas, which took place while presenting the budget on Saturday, Mr. Nagappan said the Opposition bid to disrupt the budget presentation was quite unwarranted. They did not have an issue to raise for discussion, he said.

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