Wait for Sankranti to wear Bathukamma sarees?

Khammam : It appears that the women of the state will have to wait for Sankranti festival to get the Bathukamma sarees as the Election Commission has said not to the distribution of the same by the government on the occasion of the State festival.

It needs to be mentioned here that the district administration had made elaborate arrangements for distribution of Bhatukamma sarees to about 4,48,797 women across the district through Public Distribution System (PDS) with each saree costing Rs 290 in over 500 designs.

The officials of the State Civil Supplies department by collecting details about the number of sarees that were required for distribution had supplied the same to the district administration for distribution. 

But the Opposition Congress party threw spanner in the game of the TRS government to get political mileage in the election season. On the complaint of the Congress leaders, the Election Commission took the decision to stop the distribution of about 95 lakh sarees across the State as the Model Code of Conduct is in place in view of Assembly elections.

Reacting on the Election Commission’s order, H Venkata Lakshmi, the State leader of VAO Association, said the government initiative had not only spread smiles on the faces of Telangana women on the festive occasion, but also ensured employment to weavers of the State.

By distributing the sarees to women from minority communities during the festive occasions of Ramzan and Christmas, the TRS government stood as model for other governments across the nation, she added.

But the Congress leaders allege that the government was fooling women by distributing cheap sarees. “The distribution of Bhatukamma sarees across the State is a cheap trick played by TRS party to gain political mileage and to attract women voters,” alleged the Women Congress leader Bandi Mani.

Moreover, the TRS party is deceiving the women voters by distributing cheap quality sarees which cannot be used and it is an insult to the women, she added.

Anyway, the sarees which are supplied to the district for the distribution the Bathukamma festival will be stored in two godowns of Civil Supplies department at Wyra and the other in Nelakondapalli.

When the government cannot distribute these sarees, what will become of them, this is the big question. The government officials have the answer. “The sarees are likely to be distributed during the Sankrati festival,” said an official on condition of anonymity.