Sanction mega powerloom cluster in Sircilla: KTR

Hyderabad: As there was no response from the Centre even after writing seven letters on behalf of the State government, Handlooms and Textiles Minister KT Rama Rao on Sunday shoot off eighth letter requesting expeditious sanction of a mega powerloom cluster for Sircilla district under the Comprehensive Powerloom Cluster Development Scheme (CPCDS).

He mentioned in his letter that Sircilla has been a major hub of handloom and textiles activity for several decades. The town has necessary ecosystem and trained manpower required to set up a mega powerloom cluster," he said in the letter addressed to Union Minister Piyush Goyal.

Minister KTR informed that the State government had initiated several measures to ensure the weaver community of the town finds gainful employment. Some of the initiatives include 40 per cent input subsidy linked wage compensation scheme, thrift fund for handloom and powerloom weavers, providing continuous work to powerloom workers. All these have resulted in revival of this industry with major increase in earnings and wages, he noted.

Reminding that the Centre had appreciated these measures introduced by the Telangana government, KTR expressed disappointment over the State not receiving any significant support related to Handloom and Textiles sector from the Union government. "I would like to reiterate that the development of Telangana translates to the development of our country," he stated.

The Minister said that over the past few years we have been observing that the Union Government is announcing schemes and assistance to states which lack the necessary ecosystem or resources. 'All this at the expense of fast developing states like Telangana.'

Expressing his anguish over not receiving any support from the Union government, Minister KTR wrote in his letter that due to lack of support to progressive States such as Telangana, today our country is unable to compete even with smaller countries.

At the same time, Minister KTR also highlighted that Telangana has been able to attract some marquee investments into the textiles sector and said that the track record proves that Telangana could achieve these investments by competing not only with Indian states, but also with other nations too. He mentioned that Telangana State has earmarked extra budgets for the Handloom and Textiles sector and has taken up world class projects like Kakatiya Mega Textile Park.

The youth of Telangana are eagerly waiting for employment opportunities that will be created by projects like mega powerloom cluster. "I make an earnest appeal on behalf of the people of Telangana to sanction the mega powerloom cluster in Sircilla without further delay," KTR said.