Protesting KSIC employees fear loss of livelihood; filature unit in T Narsipur wears deserted look

190 employees have stopped producing raw silk yarns from 13 days

Mysore: As many as 190 employees of the mother unit of the Karnataka Silk Industries Corporation (KSIC), including 97 women, have been staging a protest at the gate of the unit at T Narsipur, about 35 km from Mysuru, for the last 13 days.

Production at the raw silk yarn reeling and silk yarn degumming unit, spread over 12 acre and 32 guntas, has stopped since February 21 and the employees are protesting to retain 5 acres of the KSIC land, acquired for a proposed sports stadium.

During a factory tour by DH, the cocoon godown, where 40,000 kg of cocoons dried with hot air and segregated are stored, coal dumping yard, water collection tank area, unit to boil cocoons, four semi-automatic and two automatic reeling units to brush and reel raw silk yarns, which are usually abuzz with activity, were deserted on Tuesday.

The raw silk yarn generated here is sent to units in Channapatna and Mysuru where the iconic Mysore Silk sarees are produced. Some employees at the Channapatna and Mysuru units have resumed work and sarees are being produced with the stocked yarn and sent to the 12 showrooms across the State. 

As many as 176 outsourced employees, including 91 women and 14 permanent employees of which six are women fear that the proposed stadium would lead to the closure of the unit.

Bhagya from Hosa Tirumalakoodlu, said, "It is 30 years since I started working after my husband passed away. After two months during the Covid-19 pandemic, it is for the second time that the unit has remained closed for such a long time." 

Yogeeshwari from Muddabeeranahundi said, "Husbands of most of the women here are daily wage workers. The income we earn here is the only stable source for our livelihood. I hope the land is retained and the unit is saved, so that weaving units in Channapatna and Mysuru are saved and the brand of Mysore Silk is saved." 

Several environmentalists of Parisara Balaga, including Parashurame Gowda, Ravi Bale, Gantaiah, Akbar Sindhuvalli, Anjana, Bhagya, and Gayathri have joined the protesters. Members of organisations such as Jai Karnataka have extended support to the protesting employees.

'Why not set up Mysore Silk City?'

At the protest site, Prakash Linge Gowda said, "The State government should develop the existing filature, enhance its production instead of snatching the KSIC land and chopping trees. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, being a Mysurean, should in fact come up with a 'Mysore Silk City' by allotting 500 acres in Mysuru to promote the brand. Here, farmers should be able to nourish mulberry plants and generate cocoons. They should establish reeling units to generate raw silk yarn and units to weave Mysore Silk sarees all in one place."