HDK promises them help and support if the party comes to power
Bangalore, 13 April 2018: Silk producers are demanding better technology to help produce silk products more effectively.
The association of 1,26,000 families involved in the production of silk pitched their demands to H D Kumaraswamy, former chief minister of Karnataka.
Janata Dal (Secular) president H D Kumaraswamy took this opportunity to woo the farmers for the upcoming state assembly election.
“If I get the support of your association I will assure that silk producing farmers receive similar importance as the farmers in our country get. There will be a monthly gathering in Vidhana Soudha on the discussion of the improvement in this sector,” he said.
Silk weavers in the state are demanding an incentive of Rs 300 per kg on cocoons from the government. They say that if their demands are not met they would use artificial thread to make fabric.
Currently the farmers in the state import silk from China to produce silk products.
They are also demanding an investment of Rs. 1,750 crores from the government to enhance the use of technology in this sector so as to reduce the import from China.
“We want the government to help us upgrade the technology used for better quality cultivation,” said Sah Mahadev, weaver, and president of Mysore silk manufacturing cooperative society.
“Silk farmers in the state are living in debt which is leading to a loss in business for our industry. For this we have been demanding subsidiaries from the current and past government since a long time but nothing has been fulfilled yet,” said M Ramachandra Gowda, a sericulture farmer.
“I have worked 20 months with Congress and 20 months with BJP and have realized that these parties do not work for the benefit of the society. Hence an independent government in the state is my target,” said Kumaraswamy.
Silk farmers during the discussion praised the drip irrigation method used by countries like Thailand and China for the production of silk. They demanded investment for similar methods in India.
