Lakhs of postcards on rollback of GST on hand looms sent to PM Narendra Modi

HYDERABAD: Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leaders and activists posted lakhs of letters written by handloom workers to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to remove all Goods and Service Tax (GST) on handloom products and restore welfare schemes of handloom and powerloom artisans.

Handloom workers welfare associations and social groups marched from Nizam College to the General Post Office (GPO) at Abids. They put out slogans against the Prime Minister and the Centre for increasing the GST on handlooms from five percent to 12 percent and demanded that there should be no tax on handlooms to protect the future of the artisans.

The weavers wrote the post cards responding to the call given by the State Handlooms and Textiles Minister KT Rama Rao who launched the campaign on October 22 demanding the GST to be rolled back. The campaign received massive response from weavers spread across the State.

People who participated came from different districts of the State. Karimnagar MLC L Ramana and former Rajya Sabha member Rapolu Ananda Bhaskar, speaking to the media, said that the Centre was acting cruelly towards the handloom and powerloom workers, putting their future at stake by increasing the GST. They demanded that the Narendra Modi-led Centre should restore welfare schemes and welfare associations that work for handloom and powerloom artisans.

Lakhs of letters from the artisans were posted to the Prime Minister Office from the GPO in an attempt to get the Prime Minister's attention towards the artisans. Before posting the letters, they presented bags of letters at the Nizam College and people shouted slogans demanding abolition of GST. They held placards of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao and KTR and also demanded the five percent GST on handlooms products and its raw materials to be rolled back.