BRS MLC L. Ramana, along with leaders of the weavers’ community, speaking to reporters in Hyderabad on Sunday. | Photo Credit: By Arrangement
The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has attributed the crisis in the handlooms and powerlooms sector and the suicide of weavers to the failure of the State government in fulfilling the promises made to the sector and stoppage of work orders.
During the run-up to the recent Assembly elections, the Congress party had promised to lift GST from the textiles sector and after the formation of the government, the bills were being kept pending and fresh orders stopped. As a result, the weavers were being pushed into a distress, leading to some of them taking the extreme step, BRS leader and weaver L. Ramana stated here on Sunday.
The previous BRS government had supported weavers by giving them orders for making sarees for free distribution among the poor during the Bathukamma-Dasara festival. The weavers were given ₹2,000 per month social security pension and ₹5 lakh life insurance cover under the Nethanna Bima, under which the family of the insured weaver would be paid ₹5 lakh insurance amount, irrespective of the cause of death, Mr. Ramana said addressing a press conference.
Due to the stoppage of fresh orders, about 10,000 weavers had no work in hand. As an MLC, he had taken the issue to the notice of the Handlooms and Textiles Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao and working president of BRS K.T. Rama Rao also addressed a letter to the government. Alleging that the Congress government was not in a position to protect community vocations, he said the visit of Congress leaders Ponnam Prabhakar and Deepa Dasmunshi to a few weavers’ families was akin to visits by those responsible for deaths attending the condolence meeting.
He asked the Textiles Minister and the Chief Minister to take responsibility for the suicide of weavers and requested them to clear bills for material already supplied by the weavers’ societies, give fresh work orders and continue the incentives given to them by the previous government.
