In a major relief to the weaver community in the State, the Telangana government, on the occasion of National Handloom Day, on Sunday launched ‘Nethanna Bima’, a first-of-its-kind scheme in the country, which would extend life insurance coverage to handloom and powerloom weavers.
Handloom Minister K.T. Rama Rao virtually launched the scheme at the handloom exhibition-cum-sales event at People’s Plaza on Necklace Road here and urged the Central government to exclude handloom from GST as it was having an adverse impact on the weavers and the entire handloom sector.
"On August 7, 1905, the Swadeshi movement was launched by Mahatma Gandhi against the British and to promote handlooms. Unfortunately, after 75 years of Independence, the BJP government was the first to levy GST on handlooms," he said, adding that the central government must withdraw its decision in the interest of weavers in the country.
The Telangana government has launched ‘Nethanna Bima’ on the lines of the Rythu Beema scheme, to provide financial support to the bereaved families of handloom and powerloom weavers. The insurance coverage scheme would benefit more than 80,000 weavers across the State, and in case of natural or accidental death, ₹ 5 lakh would be deposited into the nominee’s account within 10 days, Mr. Rao said.
“The State government has been supporting the weavers thought various initiatives and schemes,” he said.
Further, he said that the handlooms department would soon launch Ramappa saris, which portray the UNESCO’s world heritage site Ramappa temple’s beautiful sculptures. “Impressed by our schemes like Cheneta Mitra, Nethannaku Cheyuta, Pavala Vaddi and 20% Yarn Subsidy schemes, special teams from Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha visited our State and examined the implementation of the schemes,” Mr. Rao said.
Earlier, MLC L Ramana along with other TRS leaders inaugurated the exhibition and thanked the Chief Minister for the scheme for weavers.
