All India Handloom Rights Forum president Bandaru Jwala Narasimha Rao on Friday urged the State government to include everyone associated with weaving under the Netanna Nestam scheme.
At present, those engaged in winding, warping, sizing etc., are not eligible for benefits under the scheme.
Mr. Bandaru Jwala, speaking at a meeting led by All India Trade Union Congress(AITUC) functionaries to take stock of the situation in the handloom sector in the pandemic, said these workers deserved hand-holding as they struggled without work due to economic downturn following the second wave of coronavirus.
The meeting, chaired by AITUC leader Meda Venkat Rao, resolved to urge the State government to set up the office of the Regional Director of Handlooms and Textiles Department(RDD), the main handloom goods production centre for the benefit of weavers, for Prakasam, SPSR Nellore and Guntur at Chirala.
They took strong objection to the Andhra Pradesh State Handloom Weavers Cooperative Society(APCO) procuring ₹1.50 crore-worth cloth produced in the powerloom sector, at a time when lakhs of handloom weavers suffered due to delay in work, said Chenetha Mitra Mandali leader Guddanti Subba Rao.
