Though political leaders, scientists and technical experts have touted mechanisation as the only way to save the ailing coir industry, thousands of mechanised coir ratts are gathering dust.
The machines were distributed to the coir workers in mid-2000s in a project sponsored by the government and other agencies, with an initial allocation of `94 crore.
Most of these mechanised ratts, aimed to increase the production and reduce the workload of the coir workers, are now relegated to the junk yards.
Following a public reaction against the unusable machines and the large-scale wastage of public funds, a Vigilance inquiry was commissioned which led to the suspension of an officer of the Kerala Coir Workers Welfare Fund Board for the distribution of faulty machines. But the machines and the investment were forgotten once again.
“As per our estimates, there are around 50,000 machines which have been rendered unusable. Most of them fall under the first stage of technology developed by the Central Coir Research Institute. These will be modified using the required technology. The few that are irreparable, will be replaced,” said chairman of Coir Workers Welfare Fund Board, A K Rajan.
But the Coir Board officials have a different story. “The CCRI only provided the technology, but the machines were developed by private agencies. The machines that were developed by the CCRI are successful.
The board is focusing on new entrepreneurs who can take up technologies like composite coir furniture and geo-textiles. If the ratts have to be replaced the state government will have to take the initiative,” said a senior official from the Coir Board.
Meanwhile, the coir workers are stuck with the inefficient, archaic machines as the new technology that was provided to them have gone awry.
“We prefer using the mechanised equipment. But there are many instances where these are unusable. Some of them had to be abandoned because the machines were not able to produce thin yarns. Some cannot process the commonly available coir fibres, some have been unviable because of the high power consumption.
“ A few are practically unusable. So at the end of the day, even those of us who are trained to use the mechanised systems are forced to go back to the old ones,” said V Usha, a coir artisan from Kalavoor in Alappuzha.
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