No free Bathukamma sarees for second year under Congress rule

For the second year in a row, women in Telangana have been denied free Bathukamma sarees, a tradition upheld by the previous BRS government. The Congress-led administration had promised two sarees annually to SHG women, but delays and confusion have left many disappointed.

Hyderabad: For the second consecutive year after the Congress government came to power in the State, women are deprived of their free Bathukamma sarees. In the past, the BRS government used to offer Bathukamma sarees free of cost as part of the festivities. These sarees were specially designed and offered to all women aged above 18 years.

However, after the Congress came to power, the practice of offering free Bathukamma sarees was discontinued, much to the disappointment of women. Instead, the Congress government promised to offer two new sarees to all Self Help Group (SHG) women annually.

---

There was a buzz that these sarees would be distributed to SHG women in a few districts for Bathukamma festivities this year.

Accordingly, Hyderabad, Warangal, Karimnagar, Khammam and Mahabubnagar were selected for distributing the sarees in the first phase. But for reasons better known to the concerned officials, even this plan appears to be shelved.

There are nearly 63 lakh members in SHGs in the State. The Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP) had placed an order for 64 lakh sarees with the Handlooms department. This was against the total requirement of 1.30 crore sarees at the rate of distributing two sarees to each SHG woman.

“These 64 lakh sarees are not Bathukamma sarees but uniforms for SHG women associated with SERP and MEPMA. Of these, we have distributed over 10.38 lakh sarees and printing of 20 lakh sarees is underway. All the sarees will be ready only by October end,” said an official from Handlooms department.

Considering the orders placed with the Handlooms department, only one saree is to be offered this year. Moreover, there is no clarity on when the sarees are to be distributed to the SHG women. As Diwali is to be celebrated on October 20 this year and the likelihood of saree distribution before the festival appears slim.

The Rural development department has to decide on the distribution of second saree and place its order with the handlooms department accordingly.