More than 3,000 handloom and powerloom merchants in the district, a key textile centre in the country, closed down their shops on Monday as part of a two-day strike demanding Central and State governments that the price of cotton yarn be reduced.

The protestors said that in the past three months the price of all varieties of yarn had increased several fold.

They said the price of a bundle of yarn had increased by Rs 800 in the past three months.

The merchants said if the government did not intervene and the prevailing price of yarn remained the same, they would have to increase the rate of their products by a minimum Rs 20 a metre.

Ban online trading

The protestors also demanded that the Union Government ban the online trading of cotton and stop its export.

A section of the striking textile merchants also observed a one-day fast in the district, in which more than 2,000 participated.

The protestors said they have decided to conduct a ‘rail roko' in the district on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the merchants said the weekly hosiery market in the district that will assemble every Monday afternoon, in which they said about Rs 2 crore worth transactions would be witnessed, did not take place today.

The weekly textile market, which will be conducted every Tuesday, will also not take place, the merchants said.

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