Telangana’s main opposition party Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has alleged that the Congress government is penalising weavers in the state for political reasons by stopping the implementation of all welfare schemes launched by the previous BRS government.
BRS party Working President K. T. Rama Rao wrote an open letter to Chief Minister Revanth Reddy regarding the dire state of weavers in the state. He appealed to the government to continue all ongoing welfare and development activities for the weavers.
Over the last four months, all of the previous government’s welfare activities for weavers have been halted by the present government, leading to distress in the weaving community, KTR criticized in his letter.
He reminded due to mismanagement in the agricultural sector, farmers have already been committing suicide in the state. Unfortunately, the same kind of administrative negligence is leading to distress in the poor weaving community, with weavers also resorting to suicides, KTR lamented in his letter.
In his open letter, the MLA from Sircilla explained the previous government’s welfare activities such as yarn subsidies directly deposited into the weaver’s accounts, insurance benefits for the weavers, and government cloth orders placed directly with the weavers.
KTR recalled that after decades of distress under the previous government’s regime, the BRS government attempted to rectify the situation by inviting all stakeholders from the weaving community to contemplate suitable welfare and development activities for the weavers under the leadership of then Chief Minister KCR.
The state government’s initiative to allocate an unprecedentedly large budget, unlike in previous years, led to the initiation of weaving welfare programmes such as loan waivers for weavers, Chenetha Mitra, Nethannaku Bheema, Bathukamma saree program, health insurance, and the creation of two separate corporations for handlooms and power looms, etc.
KTR stated that the present government has halted all weaving welfare activities, especially the Bathukamma saree production programme, directly leading to distress among around 30,000 power loom weavers in the state.
Due to the non-payment of pending bills, which were stopped during the elections due to the model code of conduct, even master weavers are facing a lot of financial crises, affecting the power loom labourers.
Already, a few power loom labourers have committed suicide, reminiscent of the dreadful years of the Congress administration when Sircilla was known for its weavers’ suicides.
KTR requested the Congress government not to view these weaving welfare activities through a political lens and urged the government to continue all ongoing welfare activities. He also demanded the release of orders for Bathukamma sarees, which would help the majority of the weaving community in the state.
KTR also accused the state government of attempting to give the same Bathukamma order to other states just for the sake of commissions. If this government is unwilling to continue the previous government’s welfare activities, it should at least come up with new policies and initiatives that will benefit the weavers more. However, it cannot remain indifferent while weavers are committing suicide.
KTR also warned the Chief Minister that if the government does not provide any respite to the distressed weaving community, the BRS party in the main opposition role will continue to fight on behalf of the backward weaving community in the state.