Golden Jubilee Celebration By WBHA

West Bengal Hosiery Association celebrated its 50 years Golden Jubilee amidst a galaxy of renowned hosiery manufacturers of the state at Oberoi Grand in Kolkata on April 25.
Inaugurating the celebration West Bengal Minister for micro and small Industry, Mr. Manabendra Mukherjee outlined the rich traditional activities of the hosiery and knitting industries in the state. He said with the commissioning of apparel and a textile parks in Howrah and a hosiery park in Kolkata, a massive employment opportunity will be created in the state.
Mr. Mukherjee pointed out that the state government will extend all possible assistance for the completion of those parks which are now under construction. Since the Left Front government in the state is committed to accelerate industrialisation, it would do its best to get the central assistance for the purpose as early as possible. The matter has already been taken up with the concerned authorities, the minister added.
Speaking on the occasion , textile commissioner, Mr. A. B. Joshi stressed the need for setting up more such parks so that the upcoming manufacturers could avail required infrastructure facilities for producing quality products to meet the competitive markets.
Earlier, highlighting the activities of the association, its president, Mr. K. B. Agarwala suggested for a flexible labour policy with a provision for employing contract labour to help creating a lot of jobs. He said currently, producers are unable to address the low labour productivity issue which is in turn affecting benchmarking opportunities with world class plants to improve their cost structure. So, Mr. Agarwala said, it is necessary that garment units employing large number of workers should be treated as special economic zones, thus allowing relaxation of industrial disputes act and granting freedom to hire workers on seasonal demand.
He said lack of desired level of technological upgradation is causing low productivity and the limited scale of operations is depriving the hosiery sector of the advantages of ‘economy of scale’. Higher cost of production is affecting the quality of products. Special emphasis should, therefore, be given to improve quality, design, fashion and style of the hosiery products made in the state to meet the requirements of conscious consumers, Mr. Agarwala viewed.
Referring to the scarcity of spinning mills in West Bengal, he said there is a vast scope for setting up a few more mills in the state. At present the yarn / fabric is sourced from other regions, particularly South India. This can definitely be minimised if there are enough spinning mills in the state, he said.
Mr. Agarwala stressed the need for uninterrupted power supply to hosiery units at an affordable rate. Sufficient awareness has to be created among entrepreneurs and workers about the need for an eco-friendly environment at work site in cooperation with the government.
About the hosiery park being set up by the association through SPV near Kolkata, Mr. Agarwala said this 100 acre state-of-the-art park is going to be one of its kinds having unique facilities which can be availed by the association members in setting up their units there. When completed, the park will be able to provide employment to about 20,000 workers and serve as veritable centre for all round activities in this region, he said.
The association president pointed out that West Bengal’s Hosiery Industry has all the ingredients to achieve robust growth. There is no dearth of talented entrepreneurs and labour to supplement production needs. The industry is now gradually awakening despite its various limitations. Although export of cotton knitwear from the state is low, many units in the state have started taking interest in exports. These units have expanded their installed capacity in recent years with sophistication and are expected to perform well in the international markets in the near future. However, there is need for some ‘minor adjustment’ in the policy of the government of West Bengal to enable the industry make a quantum jump in its contribution to the state’s economy and earn much higher foreign exchange through intensification of exports, Mr. Agarwala added.