‘Weavers punched in gut,’ KTR writes to CM on Handloom Day

Hyderabad: Alleging that the Congress government was dealing a blow to Telangana’s weaving community, BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao on Friday, August 7, wrote an open letter to Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, raising concerns over the plight of weavers in the state.

Written on National Handloom Day, the letter was shared both by the BRS and KTR on X.

He said that decisions to scrap the All India Handloom Board, Handicrafts Board, and Powerloom Board, and the imposition of 5 per cent GST on handloom products have severely impacted the handloom sector.

He pointed out that welfare schemes for weavers, implemented by the BRS government, such as ‘Netaanna Bima’ and ‘Netaanna Ku Cheyutha’ have been discontinued, pushing weavers into penury.

Through the ‘Netaanna Ku Cheyutha’ scheme, he said they implemented an innovative policy to encourage workers’ savings, where if the worker contributes Rs 1,200 per month and the dependent worker Rs 800, the government would deposit up to Rs 4,000 as its share.

‘Promises made to weavers not fulfilled’

Alleging that not a single one of the promises made to handloom workers before the elections by Congress has been fulfilled, KTR demanded that all schemes be immediately restored.

“National Handloom Day is not just a day for celebrations but a responsibility on the governments to implement policies that provide financial security to handloom families,” he said, adding that the Congress government in the state and the BJP government at the Centre are together pushing the handloom sector toward crisis.

Counting out the Congress’ promises, KTR said none of the following—Rs 18,000 annual financial aid under Cheyeta Bharosa, Rs 6,000 assistance to dependent workers, waiver of personal loans up to Rs 1 lakh, waiver of cash credit loans for handloom cooperative societies, and the state government bearing the burden of 5 per cent GST imposed by the Centre—has been implemented.

BJP did gave injustice to sector

KTR said though they were different parties, there is no difference in the stance of the BJP at the Centre and the Congress government in the state when it comes to handlooms.

In the letter, KTR demanded that the state government take immediate action for weavers. He urged that special welfare and development programmes for handloom artisans be implemented and all discontinued schemes be restored.

“Our handlooms… our pride. Handlooms thrive only if Netaanna thrives. Only if handlooms thrive will our culture and self-respect remain alive. Even now, they should abandon their deceptive stance and stand as support for Netaanna families,” KTR appealed to Chief Minister Revanth Reddy in his letter.