Officials from the Tamil Nadu government have collected details from powerloom weavers in Erode and nearby areas regarding GST refund dues.
According to the Organising secretary of the Federation of Tamil Nadu Powerlooms Associations, the Federation made several representations to the government earlier regarding GST paid by the powerloom weavers that should have been refunded by the Centre, but was not done so. Following a report in The Hindu in this regard recently, the officials contacted the weavers and took the details. The field officials also sought data from the weavers on the GST paid and the refund pending.
“We are awaiting action by the Central and State governments. If there is no relief, we will keep raising the issue. There are hundreds of powerloom weavers who are hit in the State because of this issue. Many have moved away from weaving. Those who were taking direct orders and weaving fabric have now moved over to do job work. The governments should take steps to give relief to the weavers,” he said.
The powerloom weavers who were weaving manmade fibre fabric paid higher GST for 13 months in 2017-2018 due to inverted duty structure.