Sircilla weavers lose hope of government orders

Though they registered their protest by stalling 25,000 looms for about two and half months in the beginning of this year, there was no change in the attitude of the government, the weavers alleged.

Rajanna-Sircilla: Weavers in Sircilla, who till last year rarely got a break from work, are now losing hope after sitting idle for months together, courtesy the lethargy of the State government in placing orders for them.

They are also upset over their bills that are pending with the government. When representatives of weavers’ cooperative societies met Agriculture and Handlooms Minister Thummala Nageshwar Rao on Saturday, the Minister had said that the Telangana State Handloom Weavers Cooperative Society was given orders worth Rs.255 crore.

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However, weavers in Sircilla insist that the ground reality is different. Except for Rajiv Vidya Mission (RVM) orders, they say they have not received any other order during the last five months. While the Textile Park got an order to weave 60 lakh meters of RVM uniform cloth, polyester weavers got an order to manufacture 19.60 lakh meters of cloth.

Though they registered their protest by stalling 25,000 looms for about two and half months in the beginning of this year, there was no change in the attitude of the government, the weavers alleged.

Speaking to Telangana Today, Polyester Cloths Association president Mandala Satyam said that except for the 19.60 lakh meter RVM union cloth order, they had not got any other order.

The weavers have now lost hopes of getting government orders in the future, he said. Mutually Aided Cooperative Societies (MACS) general secretary P Shankar wanted the government to clear at least their pending bills. From pending bills worth Rs 275 crore, the government had released Rs.150 crore in two installments.

However, the amounts have not been provided to MACS societies, he said. The weavers point out that the Bathukamma saree order, an initiative launched by the previous BRS government, had brought about a major change in their lives since they used to get employment through the year since the order was worth a staggering Rs.350 crore.

Apart from for bathukamma sarees, the previous government used to place work orders for school uniforms, KCR kits, Christmas and Ramzan gifts and sarees for Anganwadi teachers and Aayahs as well. Every year, the total worth of orders used to range between Rs.500 crore to Rs.550 crore.

However, the weavers, who used to earn Rs.16,000 to Rs.20,000 per month, are now struggling to get employment due to lack of orders from the government.