KTR appeals to weavers in Munugode to teach a lesson to BJP

HYDERABAD: Telangana Handlooms and Textiles Minister and TRS Working President KT Rama Rao on Monday appealed to the weavers' community to teach the BJP a lesson in the Munugode by-election by listing the harsh measures taken by the BJP-led central government against handloom weavers.

The Minister said that Narendra Modi was the first Indian Prime Minister to burden weavers with high taxes and to have eliminated insurance and welfare schemes meant for them.

KTR said several progressive steps taken by the TRS government for the welfare of the weavers' community during a teleconference with Munugode handloom weavers on Monday.

He said that the TRS government had been allocating a budget of Rs 1,200 crores per annum for the welfare of the handloom sector, provided a 40 percent subsidy on yarn and dyes through Chenetha Mithra, introduced Rs 5 lakh insurance coverage for handloom and power loom workers through Nethanna Ku Bhima, implementing Nethannaku Cheyutha scheme. During COVID, Telangana government, through Nethannaku Cheyutha, had sanctioned an amount of Rs. 100 crores to weavers much before the maturity date. The scheme was being continued keeping in view the benefit it has provided to the community.

The Minister KTR said that the TRS government waived weavers' loans ranging up to Rs 1 lakh. This benefited about 10,500 people. He also said that an integrated training, production and sales centre in Narayanpet, and handlooms park in Gadwal were being set up.

TRS Working President listed out the BJP government's vengeful measures against weavers.

He said that BJP dissolved the All India Handlooms Board, All India Handicrafts Board, and scrapped savings scheme, and insurance schemes for weavers. Also, the yarn subsidy to weavers was reduced from 40 percent to 15 percent.

He said that the GST on handlooms and textiles was increased from 5 percent to 12 percent by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Though Modi rode to power on the swadeshi sentiment, he was pushing the handlooms sector into crisis, KTR added.

The Minister said that though the Telangana government sought assistance from the central government in implementing welfare measures for weavers, there was absolutely no help from the centre. Moreover, the central government did not lend support to set up the Institute of Handloom Technology, and block-level handloom clusters.

The minister urged the weavers' community to teach Narendra Modi's BJP a lesson in the Munugode by-elections. He has promised to work for the benefit of weavers in Koyalagudem, Puttapaka, Gattupal, Choutuppal, Chunduru, Munugode, Narayanapuram, and Lingotam.