Handloom cooperative societies and Kaikkoolar political influence

Political change provided the incentive for the formation of the Sengunthar Mahaajana Sangam, and the political unity it created increased the caste's political influence among both state and national parties. The importance of the handloom industry in Madras Presidency made the provincial government sensitive to the weavers' welfare, and the Kaikkoolars were nearly the largest textile-producing population. Next to agriculture, weaving was the largest sector of the regional economy. According to the Directorate of Handlooms and Textiles for Tamilnadu, the handloom sector in 1978 produced about 22 percent of the industrial sector's contribution to state income, and 6 percent of Tamilnadu's working population was supported directly or indirectly by handlooms (1978:2; Census of India 1961 vol. 9, part XI-A:65). These percentages were probably much larger before World War II, since the industrial sector of the economy has grown and diversified since Indian independence, and handloom weaving has declined (Census of India vol. 9, part XI-A:13, 31, compared with 66). It is not surprising, therefore, to find that early Sangam leaders were concerned with improving the handloom industry as one way of elevating the caste's social and economic conditions, and in turn that the provincial government and later the state government supported their efforts.

Although earlier attempts to establish handloom weavers' cooperatives had been made, it was not until 1935, when the statewide association was formed, that the modern structure of the cooperative system was established. The first viable production cooperatives were founded shortly thereafter.