Tamil Nadu Govt comes to rescue of Sircilla weavers, even as Telangana Govt remains mute on CM’s promise

Weavers, especially those in Sircilla, who were in a deep financial crisis with several weavers even ending their lives, had seen their misery deepening further with the Congress government here failing to place the annual Bathukamma sarees order

Rajanna-Sircilla: Even as the Telangana government remains silent on Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy‘s promise of giving orders to weavers here for 1.3 crore sarees to be distributed to self-help group women in the State, the Tamil Nadu government has come to their rescue with an order for Pongal sarees.

Weavers, especially those in Sircilla, who were in a deep financial crisis with several weavers even ending their lives, had seen their misery deepening further with the Congress government here failing to place the annual Bathukamma sarees order. Their hopes had started burning bright with the Chief Minister’s promise in September.

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However, even after three months, the government has not made any move towards this, leaving the weavers still deep in crisis.

It is at this juncture that the Tamil Nadu government has come to their rescue, by giving them a work order to weave 11 lakh metres of cloth. This is part of the Tamil Nadu government’s initiative to distribute sarees to women in the name of ‘Amma Chira’, apart from ‘veshti’ (dhoti) for men.

Besides saree orders for weavers in Coimbatore, Salem and Erode among other places in Tamil Nadu, the Tamil Nadu government has been considering Sircilla weavers as well every year. This time, the order is for about two lakh sarees.

Speaking to Telangana Today, Mutually Aided Cooperatives Societies (MACS) general secretary P Shankar informed that the Tamil Nadu government was providing Rs 6 per metre of cloth. Though this is much lesser than what the previous BRS government in Telangana used to give – Rs 10.30 to Rs 11 under the Bathukamma saree order – the weavers are getting busy with the Pongal sarees since there are not many other orders.

In order to provide employment to Sircilla weavers, the previous BRS government had initiated the Bathukamma saree scheme, and used to place work orders worth Rs 350 crore, apart from orders worth Rs 115 crore for school uniforms and KCR Kit among others, every year.

However, the situation changed when the Congress came to power. This year, except for school uniforms, no other order has been placed by the government, with the Bathukamma saree scheme apparently being shelved. What remained was the Chief Minister’s promise, which too appears to have been mere lip service.