With an eye on gram panchayat elections, Congress to distribute ‘Indiramma’ sarees from Wednesday

The Congress government in Telangana announced the distribution of one crore Indiramma sarees to women across the State, beginning Wednesday. The scheme, timed with the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, will be rolled out in two phases, villages by December 9 and urban areas from March 1 to 8, coinciding with International Women’s Day.

Hyderabad: A day after announcing that the gram panchayat elections would be conducted shortly, the Congress government on Tuesday declared that it would begin distributing one crore ‘Indiramma’ sarees to one crore women in the State from Wednesday.

Interestingly, the announcement comes after women in Telangana were denied sarees during Bathukamma, the State festival, a practice that the previous BRS government had followed religiously. Now, with the gram panchayat elections on the cards, the Congress government is distributing the sarees to coincide with the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on November 19.

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At a review meeting held with Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Minister D Anasuya and senior officials on Tuesday, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy instructed them to distribute the sarees in two phases, a decision taken purportedly due to delays in production.

In the first phase, distribution will take place in villages and will be completed by December 9, coinciding with what the Congress calls ‘Telangana Thalli Avatarana’. The second phase will cover urban areas from March 1 to March 8, marking International Women’s Day.

The sarees are being produced entirely by handloom workers in Rajanna Sircilla district.

On Wednesday, the Chief Minister will formally launch the Indiramma sarees distribution at 12 noon after paying homage to the Indira Gandhi statue on Necklace Road.