RAMANATHAPURAM
Minister for Information Technology (who was later dropped from the State Cabinet) M. Manikandan distributed welfare assistance amounting to ₹15.82 lakh to 41 beneficiaries and honoured 23 weavers with prizes on the occasion of the National Handloom Day on Wednesday.
The Minister distributed the welfare assistance, including MUDRA loan of ₹50,000 each to 10 beneficiaries, at the 5th National Handloom Day function organised at Emaneswaram near Paramakudi. The Minister honoured 20 weavers, who had completed 25 years of service in Weavers’ Cooperative Society, and three weavers, who won the Best Weaver Award for 2019.
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Recalling that the Swadeshi Movement was launched on this day in 1905 to boycott British products and follow the principles of Swadeshi, Mr. Manikandan said the Centre had declared this day as National Handloom Day in 2014 to generate awareness of handloom industry and protect the livelihood of weavers.
He said the Tamil Nadu government was implementing a number of welfare schemes for handloom weavers, including housing scheme and supply of 250 units of free power. Referring to handloom rebate arrears of ₹17.05 crore to 86 handloom cooperative societies in Parmakudi region, he said the State government had released ₹2 crore last year and an equal sum this year. A demand had been placed with Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami to clear the balance at one go, he said.
Addressing the function, Collector K. Veera Raghava Rao said the district had 5,506 weavers’ families. A total of 11,304 weavers were members of the 86 handloom weavers’ cooperative societies in the district. Weavers were benefited from old age pension and family pension schemes, he said.
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Paramakudi MLA Sadan Prabakaran and Deputy Director of Handlooms (Pramakudi) S. Raghavan were present.