NE NEWS SERVICE
DHARMAVARAM, DEC 21
The handloom weavers of Dharmavaram were lucky to enjoy a new welfare scheme for them from Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy on his 47th birthday on Saturday.
At a function held in Dharmavaram, the Chief Minister launched YSR “Nethanna Nestham’’, a welfare scheme for the well-being of every handloom weaver.
Addressing the weavers, Jagan said that there was nobody who knew better about the difficulties faced by the handloom weavers of Dharmavaram than him. Recalling the great history of the handloom weavers, the Chief Minister said right from holding a silk saree in a match box to their contribution in the freedom movement, he said they have an exemplary history and added that Dharmavaram handloom silks were well-known all over the world. However, he said nobody bothered about the problems being faced by them.
The Chief Minister said though they were facing problems of simmering debts and poverty, the previous government had looted them in the name of APCO. He said an inquiry was being conducted into the episode. He said he had seen the travails of the handlooms weavers during his pada yatra of the state. That is when he decided to help the weavers and he was here now to fulfill the promise he had made to them. Every handloom weaver would get Rs 24,000 per year as part of the new scheme started by the government, he said.
The Chief Minister said nearly 85,000 handloom weaver families in the state would be benefited by the new scheme. He said every weaver family would get Rs 1.2 lakh within five years. Recalling that 57 weavers of Anantapuram district committed suicide during the Chandrababu Naidu regime, he said the families of the weavers who committed suicide would get a financial assistance of Rs 3.5 crore.
He said all the Nava Ratnas promised in the manifesto were being implemented in the past six months of assuming power by him. In all, 25 lakh poor people would be given house sites by the next Ugadi. From January 9, every mother would be getting Rs 15,000 through Amma Vodi programme to educate her children. Auto and taxi drivers were benefited by the Vahana Mitra scheme. Agri gold victims who were suffering for the past five years were given financial aid by the government, he said. Similarly, the government has gone to the aid of the fishermen, he added.
The Chief Minister said his strength was the people’s blessings and God’s grace. He said while the previous government had spent only Rs 500 crore in five years towards social pensions the present government was spending Rs 1,500 crore every month and thereby given confidence to the senior citizens. He said the government has passed a bill to give 75% jobs to locals and started the village secretariats and village volunteers system to reach out to the people in every nook and corner of the state.
The government was following the principle of social justice by providing a place for SC, ST, BC and Minorities in the State Cabinet and has started a BC Commisionerate on a permanent basis. He said the government has provided 4 lakh jobs within four months of coming to power and ensuring that the government schemes reach even the remotest villages in the state.
