Bathukamma Sarees distribution to commence from Thursday

Hyderabad: Commencing from Thursday, the State government will distribute the Bathukamma sarees to the beneficiary women across the State. Under the annual distribution programme which was launched in 2017, around one crore women in the State will receive sarees on the festive occasion of Dasara. Ministers, legislators and other elected representatives will participate in distribution […]

Hyderabad: Commencing from Thursday, the State government will distribute the Bathukamma sarees to the beneficiary women across the State. Under the annual distribution programme which was launched in 2017, around one crore women in the State will receive sarees on the festive occasion of Dasara. Ministers, legislators and other elected representatives will participate in distribution of the Bathukamma sarees.

In the last five years, the State government distributed 5.81 crore sarees to the women beneficiaries with a ration card till date. Around Rs 339.71 crore were spent for the purpose this year.

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In a release, Textiles and Handlooms Minister KT Rama Rao said the scheme had not only ensured sarees as gifts to women on behalf of the State government during the festive occasion, but also is providing livelihood to the weavers in the State. The weavers struggled for feed their families in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, but now have theier income doubled.

“While the State government is taking all measures to protect the textile industry by doubling the weavers’ income, the Centre took decisions like increased GST on textiles which are detrimental to the progress of weavers. Though the Centre is not inclined to support the weavers, the State government will take all measures within its purview to safeguard them,” the Minister said.

All the sarees have already reached their destinations and arrangements are being made by the district administration for their distribution. These sarees were manufactured in Sircilla by over 20,000 powerloom weavers. Every day, about one lakh sarees would be manufactured to meet the deadline and a buffer stock of 3 lakh sarees was maintained to ensure there is no short supply.

The sarees were produced in 24 designs in 10 colours and 240 thread borders, using 100 per cent polyster filament yarn. The designs were finalised after taking into consideration of the opinions of women in the State. Of the one crore sarees, around 92 lakh sarees of 6 metres length will be distributed to women across Telangana. The remaining eight lakh sarees of 9 metres length, were manufactured especially for the elderly women as per their preference.