Weavers pin their hopes on CM addressing their woes

Chirala: The weavers’ community in the state is eagerly waiting for Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu to participate in the National Handloom Day celebrations in Chirala on Wednesday, and make announcements of relief and schemes for their welfare.

The department of handlooms and textiles estimates that there are about 3.50 lakh handloom weavers in the state, and about 50 per cent of them are covered under 1,282 weavers’ cooperative societies. The previous government used to support about 86,000 weavers with financial assistance of Rs 24,000 per annum, under the YSR Nethanna Nestham programme. But nearly one lakh weavers who didn’t own handlooms are left behind in the scheme.

The Covid-19 pandemic has ruined the handloom sector in the state. The wages of the weavers were reduced by nearly 50 per cent, as the market for handloom products fell down, and the supply from other places increased.

This phenomenon affected the weavers seriously and forced the younger generation to leave the profession. This situation also affected more than one lakh workers who are dependent on the allied works of the handlooms.

Meanwhile, the 5 per cent of GST on the yarn, and the taxes on the colours and chemicals increased the final price of the handloom clothes, thus negatively affecting the market. President of All India Handloom Rights Forum, Bandaru Jwala Narasimham explained that the Nethanna Nestham programme saved the poor families of the weavers a lot in the crisis. He requested the Chief Minister to continue the programme during his term and extend it to weavers who couldn’t afford to own a handloom but weave in the common work shed. He asked the government to give 4 cents of land to the weavers owning a handloom to construct house-cum-work shed with a budget of Rs 5 lakh, along with a subsidy on electricity up to 300 units.

Narasimham demanded the government rename the Bapatla district as the Pragada Kotaiah district, after the legendary leader who strived for the welfare of the handloom weavers.

The weavers’ leaders asked the Chief Minister to issue orders to purchase the stock with the private master weavers and convince the Union government to remove 5 per cent GST on yarn, and taxes on colours and chemicals which amounts to 32 per cent. They demanded the government to sanction a loan of Rs 5 lakh on self-surety under the MUDRA scheme. They requested the government to cancel the bogus cooperative societies and inquire about the allegation of corruption in APCO.