Weavers' income tripled in 3-yr YSRC rule: Jagan

Pedana: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday claimed that his government's policies had more than tripled the monthly income of weavers to Rs 15,000 from Rs 4,680 in 2018-19.

The Chief Minister was addressing a gathering of weavers here on Thursday after crediting Rs 193.31 crore for the fourth consecutive year under YSR Nethanna Nestham into the bank accounts of 80,546 weaver families here.

He maintained that he had kept his promise made to weavers during his 3,648-km Padayatra by bringing YSR Nethanna Nestham scheme, which benefited weavers with their own loom in upgrading their skills through the financial assistance of Rs 24,000 each year.

The Chief Minister said the government had spent Rs 776.13 crore on weaver families in the last three years under the Nethanna Nestham and asserted that the financial assistance was being provided in the most transparent way.

Further, Jagan said that his government was also providing weavers with an e-marketing facility through APCO and other e-commerce companies like Amazon, Myntra, Flipkart and Paytm for improving the income of weavers. He stated that many of the weavers had upgraded their machinery with the financial assistance provided by the government and increased their revenues as well.

Speaking on social justice, the CM said his government was committed to the uplift of the BC communities in the State terming them as backbone of society, instead of Backward Classes. Talking about reservations, he said that SC, ST, BC, and Minorities had been getting priority in all positions and added that 70 percent of his Cabinet comprised SC, ST, BC and Minorities. The Chief Minister recalled establishing BC Commission, and 56 BC Corporations and giving lion's share to weaker sections in his Cabinet, Legislative Council, and in nominated posts. He said that his government had given key posts to women and those from BCs, unlike the former government which only gave posts to a single community.

Further, Jagan asserted that his government was implementing every welfare scheme through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) in a transparent manner accusing the TDP of encouraging corruption.

He said the TDP was trying to mislead people with malicious propaganda against the government. Earlier, the Chief Minister tried his hand at operating the loom and interacted with the beneficiaries. He also announced development projects for Krishna district.

After crediting Nethanna Nestham benefits, the Chief Minister announced that the Andhra Pradesh High Court had given green signal to the construction of Machilipatnam Port and stated that he would soon lay foundation stone for starting the works.

Ministers Jogi Ramesh, Gudivada Amarnath, RK Roja, MLAs Perni Venkataramaiah, Kodali Venkateswara Rao, K Parthasarathy and other officials were present.