KTR urges Pochampally weavers to be on par with Tiruppur

HYDERABAD: Telangana Minister for Handlooms and Textile KT Rama Rao (KTR) has called upon handloom weavers to unitedly work for the development of handloom park on the lines of weavers of Tamil Nadu who have striven for the development of the Tiruppur handlooms cluster.

KTR on Saturday visited the Pochampally handloom park in Yadadri Bhongir district and laid stone for a slew of development projects. Initially, KTR interacted with a woman weaver, Chukka Pavani from Kanumukkala, about her income and problems. Going through her plight, the minister sanctioned a Gruha Lakshmi unit for her, apart from ensuring support from the State Government.

Later, he inaugurated the Sai Bharath Integrated Handloom unit at Pochampally. After reaching Pochampally, KTR paid tribute to freedom fighter and Telangana activist Konda Laxman Bapuji by garlanding his statue. He also unveiled the statue of a “nethanna”(weaver) at Pochampally.

Inaugurating the Kalapunarvi chenetha unit set up by entrepreneur Nini Bharath, the minister said that the Telangana Government was committed to reviving the handloom park in Pochampally at a time when Narendra Modi Government had sold out public sector units of handlooms and scrapped the boards aimed at welfare of the weavers.

On the other hand, the State Government had purchased the Pochampally handloom park, which was running in losses, to protect the interests of the weavers, he said. “We are working with a target to provide employment to a large number of weavers by reviving the Pochampally handloom park,” KTR said.