Adilabad: Arrangements are being made for distributing Bathukamma saris to eligible beneficiaries in erstwhile Adilabad district soon.
As many as 9, 04,194 lakh saris would be given to women aged above 18 years and beneficiaries of food security scheme cards, helping them celebrate the floral festival with pride in erstwhile Adilabad district this year. A major portion of the saris, produced in 17 various colors and 17 designs have already been dispatched to district headquarters.
“Nearly 1 lakh saris have been received so far. The remaining garments are expected to be sent by the government by the end of this week. The saris will be sent to mandal centres after September 20th. They will be distributed to the eligible beneficiaries from the first day of the floral festival. List of the beneficiaries has already been finalized,” District Rural Development Officer Sheshadri told ‘Telangana Today.’
According to information provided by authorities concerned, 2,62,000 saris were granted to Adilabad district and 258,040 saris were going to be distributed in Nirmal district. As many as 2,50,154 saris would be given to the beneficiaries of Mancherial district, while 1,34,000 saris were sanctioned to Kumram Bheem Asifabad district.
As per guidelines of the novel initiative, local MLAs would hand over the fabrics to the beneficiaries in their respective Assembly constituencies. The beneficiaries can collect the gifts from their local fair price shops as well. A staggering array of 298 varieties of saris measuring 6 feet and 9 feet were manufactured for the distribution, cheering the women folks and celebrators of the festival.
The government earmarked Rs 340 crore for implementing the scheme in 2022. A total of 1.18 saris were produced by weavers of Sircilla, Pochampalli, Gadwal and other places of the State this year. The Bathukamma saris scheme was introduced in 2017 and nearly 5 crore gifts were distributed in the five years, spending Rs 1,466 crore.