Surat: The Federation of Gujarat Weavers Association (Fogwa) has announced that the power loom sector in the Diamond City will operate for a single shift of eight hours to protest the phenomenal increase in yarn prices by the spinners on Monday.
The Fogwa had organized a public meeting at Bhatena to protest the increase in prices by the yarn spinners. The Fogwa leaders demanded that the state government immediately implement the decision on formation of the committee on anti-profiteering so that weavers could file cases against the yarn spinners for not passing on the benefits of the Goods and Services Tax.
The Fogwa has charted out a series of demands from the state and central government, including demand for accumulated input tax credit (ITC) to the power loom sector, recovery of increased yarn prices from weavers, reducing electricity tariff on the lines of Maharashtra, abolition of anti-dumping duty on yarn, increasing subsidy on the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) from 10% to 30%, setting up of commercial courts to protect weavers from fly-by-night operators in the textile markets, etc.
Fogwa president Ashok Jirawala told TOI, “All the 6.5 lakh power loom machines will be operated for a single shift of eight hours to protest the phenomenal increase in yarn prices. The spinners have increased yarn prices by almost 35% in past couple of months, which has pushed the power loom sector on the verge of collapse.”
Jirawala added, “The central government has formed an anti-profiteering screening committee in the state, but the state government is yet to implement it. We demand that the state government immediately make the anti-profiteering screening committee operational in order to assist power loom weavers in filing cases against the yarn spinners.”

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