Hyderabad: Stating that the Telangana government was prepared to implement many more programmes for weavers’ welfare and enhance their earnings, Handlooms Minister KT Rama Rao directed the officials to come up with new action plans, drawing inspiration from the Tirupur powerloom clusters.
Stressing the need for implementing weaver welfare schemes more effectively and extensively, the Minister directed the officials to focus more on the powerloom clusters on which weavers were dependent for livelihood and employment.
Reviewing the Handloom Department’s programmes here on Friday, Rama Rao wanted the officials to explore the possibilities of developing integrated and advanced powerloom clusters on the lines of the Tirupur cluster in Tamil Nadu.
To this effect, he directed the officials to visit the Tirupur powerloom clusters and study the measures being adopted to improve the weavers’ skills and the technology being used, besides the products that were being manufactured as per the national and international demand.
The Minister specifically directed the officials to conduct field visits in areas densely populated by weavers — such as Narayanpet, Gadwal, Dubbak, Kodakandla, Mahadvepur and Kothakota. Measures and action plans should be prepared based on the ground situation and facilities available for the weavers, he said.
Rama Rao instructed them to celebrate National Handloom Day on a grand note on August 7 and organise programmes to recognise and felicitate weavers excelling in their work. “Chalk out plans to set up a handlooms museum in Hyderabad at the earliest,” he told the officials.