“Banks non co-operation leads to crisis for weavers”

December 22, 2014 01:10 am | Updated 01:10 am IST - MACHILIPATNAM:

Excise and B.C. Welfare minister Kollu Ravindra inaugurating handloom exhibition at Machilipatnam in Krishna District on Sunday.

Excise and B.C. Welfare minister Kollu Ravindra inaugurating handloom exhibition at Machilipatnam in Krishna District on Sunday.

Department of Handlooms and Textiles Regional Deputy Director M. Nagalaxmi on Sunday stated that lack of credit support from the banks for weavers was one of the reasons for crisis in the handloom weaving sector.

Speaking to The Hindu during the inaugural session of the ten-day handloom expo here, Ms. Nagalaxmi had confessed that the government was helpless regarding extending credit support to the weaving community, despite several measures. “Lack of credit facility from the banks is forcing the weavers to rely on private money lenders including master weavers.

“That is the state in which the weaver finds himself, and there is no way he can come out of the debt trap. So he commits suicide,” explained Ms. Nagalaxmi. According to Census -2011, nearly 7,000 looms are functional with the weavers’ co-operative societies under the Department of Handlooms and Textiles’ region. The districts such as Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, East and West Godavari and Krishna are falling under one region which is headquartered at Rajahmundry in East Godavari.

Minister inaugurates

Excise and B.C. Welfare Minister Kollu Ravindra on Sunday inaugurated the handloom exhibition on the premises of the Pinnamaneni Koteswara Rao Teachers’ Guild Bhavan here. “The State government will soon take a decision to waive Rs. 160 crore of weavers’ loans,” promised Mr. Ravindra. The Weavers’ Co-operative Societies functioning in all the districts of Andhra Pradesh were displaying their products, which are also meant for sales. “The exhibition is one of the ways to clear the pending stock of handloom products in the stores of the co-operative societies,” added Ms. Nagalaxmi.

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