Telangana weavers left waiting as promised loan waiver remains tangled in conditions

Over a year after Telangana’s Congress government announced a loan waiver for weavers, the scheme remains bogged down in restrictive conditions and slow verification. While Rs. 33 crore has been released, the average assistance per weaver is just Rs. 10,200, sparking criticism.

Hyderabad: More than a year after the Congress government announced a loan waiver for weavers, many are still waiting for any meaningful relief, as the scheme remains mired in restrictive conditions and a sluggish verification process.

In September 2024, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy declared that loans of up to Rs. 1 lakh taken by weavers would be waived. In March this year, the State government gave administrative approval for Rs 33 crore to implement the promise.

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The waiver covers loans, including principal and interest, taken between April 1, 2017 and March 31, 2024. However, the relief applies only to loans obtained from banks and District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs) for handloom production and related activities. Funds will be credited only after the ongoing verification exercise is completed, leaving weavers uncertain about when assistance will actually reach them.

The government went a step further by insisting that weavers with loans exceeding Rs. 1 lakh must clear the outstanding amount before July this year to become eligible for the waiver. As a result, many weavers turned to private lenders to clear dues, yet their loans remain outside the scheme’s ambit. CPM State Secretary John Wesley, in a letter to Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, said the government’s conditions had pushed weavers into deeper debt while offering little relief.

Except for bank loans, those who borrowed from cooperative societies are not eligible. An estimated 17,600 weavers across the State are believed to have taken loans, but the number of beneficiaries has sharply fallen due to rejections and exclusions.

Under pressure from weavers’ unions, the government on Thursday released Rs 33 crore. At this rate, the assistance works out to an average of just Rs 10,200 per weaver, a figure that has drawn criticism. Wesley demanded that all conditions imposed on the scheme be scrapped.

Weavers are urging the government to extend the waiver to loans taken from cooperative societies and to provide investment support in the form of interest-free loans up to Rs. 5 lakh. They are also demanding that elections to cooperative societies be conducted and a TSCO (Telangana State Cooperative Organisation) Board established.