Himachal Govt will help out wool federation, says minister

Dharamsala, October 8

The government will come to the rescue of the Wool Federation of Himachal that is unable to find buyers for the wool purchased from shepherds in the state.

The assurance

The government will bear the loss caused to the Wool Federation of Himachal, but won’t allow shepherds to suffer. Chander Kumar, Minister

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This was stated by Minister for Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Chander Kumar. The federation had sent a proposal that the stock of the wool purchased from shepherds at the rate of Rs 70 a kg needed to be sold at the prevailing market prices of around Rs 40 a kg. The proposal was being considered. The government would bear the loss caused to the wool federation, but won’t allow shepherds to suffer, he said.

President of Ghamantu Pashupalak Sabha Akshay Jasrotia said the federation was presently selling raw wool. In case it began grading wool, it would fetch better prices. “The federation also has the requisite infrastructure to wash wool. However, that was not being utilised. Washed wool can also fetch better prices,” he added.

Deputy General Manager of the Wool Federation Deepak Saini, however, said, “In case we start grading wool, a large portion of it will remain unsold. Washing of wool is not being done as manufacturers of woollen garments have their own methods of washing. They generally don’t want wool to be washed at the federation’s facility.”

Sources, meanwhile, say the state government has failed to take benefit of various incentives offered by the Wool Federation of India for creating better infrastructure for processing wool so that it can fetch better prices in the market. The national federation offers help of Rs 5 crore to state federations to create required infrastructure. However, the wool federation of Himachal has not applied for any such grant till date.

The minister, meanwhile, blamed the market scenario for the failure of the federation to buy more wool from shepherds. The prices of wool were low due to cheap imports and low demand, he added.

The experts are, however, of the view that the government should go in for organic certification of the wool produced in the state so that it could fetch a better price.