Ongole: Call to wear handloom clothes

Ongole: Prakasam district Collector AS Dinesh Kumar advised the public to wear handloom clothes that are a symbol of quality and culture. Along with town Mayor Gangada Sujatha, he inaugurated Exhibition arranged at the Collectorate and later flagged off a rally to promote the handloom sector on Monday and inspected the products.

Speaking on the occasion, the Collector said that the freedom fighters called for Swadeshi Movement on August 7, 1905, as a protest against the partition of Bengal. In remembrance of the Swadeshi Movement, he said that the country is celebrating National Handloom Day on August 7. He said that the handloom sector is providing the largest employment after agriculture in the country, and informed that the Kanigiri, Bestavaripet, Chimakurthy, and Eethamukkala villages have huge populations of weavers in the district, which make sarees, lungis, towels, dress material, and blankets.

The Collector informed that they will provide training to weave sarees on the jacquard looms. He said that Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has taken the initiative to establish common facility centres for weavers at Eethamukkala, Kanigiri and Bestavaripet, with cooperation from the Union government. He said that the construction of the CFC at Eethamukkala is complete, and it will be inaugurated soon. He announced that a permanent stall would be set up at the collectorate for the promotion of the handloom sector.

Mayor Sujatha said that recognising the importance of the handloom sector, the state government is supporting the weavers and their families with the YSR Nethanna Nestham, YSR Chenetha Pension Kanuka. She said that it is the responsibility of everyone to support the handloom sector by wearing the handloom clothes.

State Tailors Cooperative Federation chairperson Shaik Subhan Bi, RDD of textiles department Bhimaiah, AD B Uday Kumar and others also participated in the programme.