Telangana Chief Minister, A Revanth Reddy on Monday inaugurated Indian Institute of Handloom Technology (IIHT) in Hyderabad.
Speaking on the occasion, he slammed the previous government of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) for failing to establish the institute in the last 10 years.
He said Telangana students had to go to Odisha and Andhra Pradesh to pursue studies in the IIHT there.
CM Reddy said his government appealed to the Union government to take measures to establish the IIHT in Telangana.
“I had appealed to the Prime Minister to set up the institution in the state. The Centre responded positively to the Telangana government’s request and approved the establishment of the institute,” he said.
The IIHT has come up in Telugu Academy at Nampally.
He had asked officials to commence the courses from the current academic year.
CM Reddy said Skill University had already been set up to impart skill training to students in the state and all necessary steps would be taken to set up the IIHT campus in the Skill University next year.
CM Reddy said that the government had provided relief to distressed weavers by releasing dues of Rs 290 crore. He said the previous government created hype on the promotion of handlooms by launching a campaign with movie stars but the poor living conditions of the weavers remained unchanged.
He alleged that the previous government also delayed the release of dues for the weavers towards payment of Batukamma sarees.
CM Reddy said the Congress government released the funds and supported the struggling Sircilla workers without any politics.
Stating that there were 63 lakh Self-Help Group members in the state, he said the government decided to distribute two sarees to each group member every year.
Instructions have already been given to the authorities to come out with a good design and quality of sarees, CM Reddy said.
The Telangana CM said his government decided to give the order of 1.30 crore sarees to the weavers every year.
Officials have also been instructed to prepare an action plan for the conduct of elections to Co-operative Unions.
CM Reddy said the government will also waive Rs 30 crore handloom loans taken by the weavers. “My government is giving equal priority to farmers and weavers. I will support the entire weaving community like an elder brother,” he said.
Taking a dig at his political rivals, CM Reddy remarked that election, selection and collection were not considered as sacrifices.
Paying tributes to Telangana movement leader Konda Laxman Bapuji, CM Reddy said he sacrificed posts to the cause of Telangana and stood as a role model.
He announced that the newly-established IIHT would be named after Konda Laxman Bapuji and officials have been asked to issue an order in this regard.
Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao, AIMIM MLA from Nampally Majid Hussain, Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari, and others attended the event.