Thiruvananthapuram: E P Jayarajan's initial six-month stint as minister might be remembered for all the wrong reasons.
But for weavers across the state, who were finding it increasingly hard to meet both ends, Jayarajan will always be remembered for a revolutionary step he took just a week after he was sworn in.
Jayarajan's first public reception after he took oath on May 25, 2016, was organised by Irinave Weavers' Cooperative Society in Kannur, of which he was the founder president.
“The sector was in deep trouble then. Sales had fallen and exports too had dried up. Workers were not getting their wages, and the government was not even reimbursing our rebate money. Many societies were shutting down,” said Anilkumar, the secretary of the Irinave Society.
Jayarajan did not make any promise.
Later, a small tea party was arranged at the society office. Retired society members, who were Jayarajan's old friends, were also invited.
When his old chums too began speaking about the issues, he cut them short.
“I know what ails weavers better than any one of you. I came here just to spend some time with you and not to get your pompous advice. I know what do,” Jayarajan had said in mock anger.
Then the friends spoke of old times, of how they did party work during the Emergency and how they carried rocks and stones long distances to construct the very building in which they were now sitting. And there was laughter.
“He sat talking and left late. I was worried that by then he might have forgotten our problems,” Anilkumar said.
A week later came the announcement.
School uniforms will be made of handloom and distributed free to children up to the fifth standard.
“With this one decision, which for us had the force of something like the Land Reforms Bill, he transformed our lives,” Anilkumar said. At that point, nearly half of the 35 cooperatives in Kannur were on the verge of closing down.
The new industries minister, in one swoop, created a massive demand for handloom -- uniforms had to be supplied to 2.3 lakh children in the first phase.
This was not the first time that Jayarajan was coming to the rescue of weavers. The first major post-Independence crisis struck the sector during the Emergency.
During the seventies, workers were employed in the private sector. Rich merchants supplied workers with raw materials, which they converted into cloth in small sheds near their huts.
“Once Emergency was clamped, there was a shortage of raw materials and weavers were not getting work. Many were driven to poverty,” said Kunhikkannan, a former weaver.
“It was then that E P Jayarajan took the lead to form the Irinave Society in Kannur. He was its first president. To begin with, there were 10 looms and he also took the lead in finding buyers for the products,” Kunhikkannan said.
Now there are nearly 1,000 looms under 35 weavers society in Kannur alone.
Here is the irony.
In his second stint, one of Jayarajan's priorities would be to set right the school uniform project that he himself had initiated.
On August 13, the association of weavers' cooperatives, have threatened to go on strike if their wage arrears were not paid before Onam.
A lack of coordination between the Industries Department, which runs the school uniform programme, and the Education Department, which provides the funds, is said to be the root cause. The finance department, too, is reportedly reluctant to sanction all the funds in one go. Jayarajan's style of functioning, it is said, can resolve the stalemate. "A C Moideen never pushed his case with other ministers beyond a point. But Jayarajan is not like that, he is uninhibited. He will do whatever it takes to get funds for projects and programmes he believes in," a CPM leader from Kannur said.
