GST relief for weavers soon

Vijayawada : Promisinga bright future for the weavers, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said that the government would soon come up with a comprehensive policy for the community. The CM also announced the decision to launch a health insurance scheme for weavers which would cost the exchequer about Rs 10 crore per annum. Responding to the demand of the weavers, Naidu said that the alliance government would raise the demand for removal of GST on handloom at the GST council meeting and would try to convince the Union Government to take a favourable decision. In case if there was any problem for the Centre to withdraw the GST, then the state government would find ways and means to reimburse the GST to the weavers.

Naidu said that the government would create 64 clusters in about five acres of land and apart from providing skill development to meet the present day requirements of the buyers it would also create an open network for digital corner so that the weavers can display their goods and sell them across the globe.

He called upon people to wear handloom garments at least twice a month.

He said he had purchased Uppada and Dharmavaram sarees for his wife at the exhibition. He said he was not too good at the selection of sarees, but tried to understand the quality and the importance of the design and material used. He called upon the weavers to study the trending designs and fabrics that are in vogue.

He further said that the government would install solar panels on their houses free of cost under the ‘PM Suryaghar’ scheme so that they can generate solar power up to 200 MW, which they can use for domestic needs and the power loom weavers can use for running their looms without paying any power charges. If they have excess power, they can sell it to the power utilities.

Naidu urged the weavers to protect the environment and opt for natural colours and adapt themselves to changing situations and understand what the market wants in terms of design and fabric. There is a need for backward and forward integration, he said. He regretted that the previous government had done nothing for the weavers. If it had spent Rs 700 crore it had used to install survey stones with Jagan’s photos, or Rs 403 crore it had paid ‘Sakhsi’ newspaper for advertisements for spreading fake news or Rs 500 crore for Rishikonda palace for the welfare of the weavers, their life would have considerably changed.