What can save Keralas small coir?
With small coir manufacturers in Kerala unable to modernise their processes, their loss has become Tamilnadu’s gain, reports P N Venugopal. April 2004 – Chandrababu, a small coir manufacturer in Alappuzha district of Kerala, committed suicide two months ago. He was the district secretary of the Small Scale Coir Manufacturers Association and had been in this field for the last 20 years. It was difficult to make both ends meet with his weekly earning of around Rs 1000. He couldnt bear any longer the burden of accumulated debt, recalls Suresh, Chandrababus brother who is also a coir worker. He ended it all by jumping in front of a train, adds Suresh taking a pause at his loom. A 100$ mat in the making The number of small coir manufacturers finding themselves in similar predicaments is on the increase in Alapuzha and Cherthala, the cradles of coir industry in India. They are a rare breed, these small manufacturers. They are at once employers and labourers. They work along side their worker
