Padmashali community to campaign for zero GST on handlooms in Gujarat

Padmashali Sangham has decided to launch a campaign demanding zero GST on handlooms in the Gujarat elections to be held next month.

Hyderabad: Vexed with the BJP-led union government’s negligence towards weavers and their issues, the Akhila Bharata Padmashali Sangham has decided to launch a campaign demanding zero GST on handlooms in the Gujarat elections to be held next month.

To this effect, the Sangham members are leaving for Gujarat on November 10. The campaign would begin with a Zero GST rally in Surat on November 11, followed by individual meetings with presidents of different political parties at Ahmedabad on November 12.

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This was decided during an emergency meeting held here on Friday. During the meeting, chaired by Sangham president Gaddam Jaganatham, the members decided to campaign vigorously on the demand to abolish GST on handlooms, said Akhila Bharata Padmashali Sangham (Handloom wing) president Yerramada Venkanna Netha.

The idea was to exert pressure on political parties to demand abolishment of GST on handlooms. Political parties respond to people issues only during elections, hence it was decided to campaign on zero GST during the Gujarat elections, he said.

There is a huge population of Padmashali community in Gujarat. Accordingly, an action plan is being prepared to make political parties commit to the cause of zero GST on handlooms. Already, many MPs from Gujarat have extended their support to the zero GST campaign.

Late last month, Handlooms and Textiles Minister KT Rama Rao had launched a campaign to bring down the financial distress experienced by handloom weavers in the State and wrote a postcard to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking him to roll back the five percent GST on handloom clothes and raw material.

As part of the campaign, weavers from across Telangana had sent over one lakh postcards to the Prime Minister urging him to abolish GST on handloom products and their raw materials.