The Union Minister of State for Power, Mr K C Venugopal has lauded the role played by the Alapuzha Coir Cluster Development Society (ACCDS), in upgrading the infrastructure facilities of the export oriented coir sector in the district - the home of coir in Kerala.

Handing over the third instalment amounting to Rs 9.21crore, as part of the Rs 56.8-crore cluster development project approved by the Commerce Ministry in 2005, he said the government's intervention had helped the industry to improve its infrastructure to a great extent. The Minister hoped that the activities of the society would be carried forward to sustain its benefits to all sections of the industry.

The Minister also availed the opportunity to appeal to the political leadership to make joint efforts to avoid labour unrest in the coir sector while seeking enlargement of the worker welfare measures.

Speaking on the occasion, the Coir Board Chairman Prof G Balachandran said that the Board had drawn up various measures including product diversification coupled with technological upgradation for sustenance of the highly labour intensive industry.

New marketing strategies would be evolved for popularization of coir products on a global scale, he said.

He also launched a pneumatic power loom developed by the Central Coir Research Institute (CCRI) at the function, describing it as a major achievement, as it was found to be convenient for operation even by female workers effortlessly.

The Board would undertake upgradation of 20,000 looms, using the technology, over a five year period, he added.

The Chairman also emphasiSed that greater transparency would be brought in to the function of the Board under his leadership and called upon the stakeholders of the industry to come forward with suggestions in this regard.

> sajeevkumar@thehindu.co.in

Related Topics