Sircilla weavers given orders for school uniforms, Ramzan gifts and Bathukamma sarees
The power loom weavers of Sircilla textile town in Rajanna-Sircilla district have their hands full as the State government has placed bulk orders for school uniforms, Ramzan gifts and Bathukamma sarees.
Following controversies over the distribution of Bathukamma sarees during the last Dasara, this time the government has exercised caution by placing order for Bathukamma sarees only with the Sircilla textile town, providing employment to the weavers and others belonging to various allied sectors of the textile industry, consistently for more than six months.
It may be recalled that last year the government had placed the bulk orders for Bathukamma sarees in the month of May, and the weavers could weave only 60 lakh sarees. In order to avoid last-minute rush, the orders were placed well in advance.
As per the textile calendar, the power loom weavers have already completed working on school uniforms worth ₹55 crore measuring 120 lakh metres under the Rajiv Vidya Mission. They had also handed over fabric worth 10.22 lakh metres to social welfare department and Ramzan gifts of 25 lakh metres for shirting and 30 lakh metres for pyjamas.
A total of 85 lakh sarees worth ₹250 crore would be distributed among the BPL women for the Bathukamma festival this year.
The State government had already placed orders for the sarees and the weavers have also placed orders for the procurement of yarn to begin the production from first week of April onwards. The government’s bulk order would ensure salary worth ₹16,000 per month against the regular salary of ₹8,000 to ₹10,000 per month for the weavers.
Assistant Director (Handloom and Textiles) Ashok Rao told The Hindu that Bathukamma sarees would be weaved by a total of 25,000 power looms providing employment to 10,000 weavers directly and another 10,000 weavers indirectly with allied sectors of power loom industry.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Telangana / by K. M. Dayashankar / Rajanna-Sircilla, March 19th, 2018