Warangal: Weavers services to nation lauded

Warangal: India has a rich tradition of handloom weaving since the times immemorial, Minister for Panchayat Raj Errabelli Dayakar Rao said. Felicitating weaving workers at Kamalapur on the occasion of National Handlooms Day here on Saturday, the Minister said that handloom workers taught the world how to live civilised.

"Handloom cloth is the only source of people's wearing until power looms intruded, hitting the livelihood of the weavers. However, since the TRS Government took over the reins of the State, it introduced a lot of welfare measures to bail out the handloom industry which was wilting under the pressure of modern clothing," Errabelli said.

Sircilla which became synonymous for the weavers' suicides is now limping back to its past glory, the minister added, referring to the welfare schemes and patronage provided by the KCR Government.

All the credit goes to Minister for Textile and Handlooms K T Rama Rao who focused on the issues faced by the weavers. The government was giving bulk orders to handloom weavers to produce Bathukamma sarees and cloth for other uses, besides providing pensions to the poor weavers, Errabelli said.

A plan is also on the anvil to provide Chenetha Bima to weavers like the Rythu Bima, he said, heaping praise on KCR.

Later, Errabelli tried his hand at maggam (manual weaver) and rolling charkha (spinning wheel) for some time. MLA Challa Dharma Reddy, Whip Balka Suman and ZP chairman M Sudheer Babu were among others present.