Coalition govt with BRS is likely at Centre: KTR

HYDERABAD: Predicting that a coalition alliance would form the government at the Centre after the general elections scheduled for next year, BRS working president and minister K.T. Rama Rao said on Monday that the party would be a part of the government.

Participating in the National Handloom Day celebrations at Manneguda in Ranga Reddy district, Rama Rao alleged that Narendra Modi was the country’s first Prime Minister to impose five per cent GST on handloom products.

Rao said that the state government has rolled out several new schemes and revised some existing schemes for the welfare of weavers. He announced a slew of schemes like ‘Telangana Chenetha Maggam’, ‘Nethannaku health card’ and an increase in  TS Handloom Weavers' Cooperative Society Ltd  (Tesco) membership. He said that the Pochampally handloom park would be revived shortly.

Earlier, Rama Rao laid foundation stones for a handlooms convention centre and handloom and handicraft museum at Uppal Bhagayath.

The museum will preserve the rich history of handlooms, showcase tools dating to ancient times, and ensure the passing of the baton to future generations. The convention centre will also have a research and development wing, he said.

Under the Chenetha Maggam scheme, all the existing pit looms will be replaced with frame looms with each costing ₹38,000 entailing an overall expenditure of ₹40.50 crore.

“Weavers will be issued health cards with an annual cover of ₹25,000 while the existing Nethannaku Bima will be extended to weavers aged between 59 and 75 years by integrating it with the Nethannaku Cheyutha scheme. The ex gratia amount for Tesco members would be doubled from ₹12,500 to ₹25,000," Rama Rao said.

Under the revised Chenetha Mitra scheme, ₹3,000 will be directly deposited in the accounts of weavers. Earlier, a 50 per cent subsidy was provided on the purchase of yarn, dyes, and chemicals. However, the workers said that not all of them benefited because of issues in uploading invoices and the condition to buy yarn through NHDC or NHDC-approved depots.

Addressing the issue, the minister announced that ₹3,000 per month per loom will be directly deposited into the accounts of handloom workers.