Ongole: Geo-tagging of handlooms to begin soon in State

Ongole: The State government has ordered the Department of Handlooms and Textiles to geo-tag the handlooms of the weavers who are eligible under the YSR Nethanna Nestham scheme.

As the government decided to provide monetary assistance to the weavers in the State on June 17, the officials are planning to complete the ground level survey and geo-tagging of the looms at least 15 days earlier.

Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy launched the YSR Nethanna Nestham programme amid the weavers in Dharmavaram in Anantapur district on his birthday, December 21, 2019.

As part of the scheme, the government is providing monetary assistance of Rs 2000 per month, a total of Rs 24,000 per annum to the weavers, who have a handloom at their home. According to the Department of Handlooms and Textiles, 81,783 weavers were provided the help for 2019-20 and another 43,795 weavers applied for the same in 2020-21.

This year, the government wanted to make sure that all beneficiaries must be eligible persons and ordered for the geo-tagging. The volunteers have already started geo-tagging the tailors and barbers at their workplaces and the Handlooms and Textiles officials also wanted to follow the same procedure.

Anumula Venkateswarlu, ADO of the Handlooms and Textiles Department in Prakasam district, said the geo-tagging of the looms would be completed in the district by the first week of June, well before the distribution of the monetary help to the eligible weavers.