Uttam asks state govt to find a solution for GST on handloom

HYDERABAD: Alleging that minister K.T. Rama Rao was demanding a rollback of GST on textiles and handlooms only in view of the Munugode byelection, Congress MP N. Uttam Kumar Reddy felt that the state government should bear the burden of the tax and spare the community.

Addressing a series of campaign meetings for Congress candidate Palvai Sravanthi in Munugode, Uttam Kumar Reddy, a former chief of the state Congress, ridiculed the 'postcard' and ‘online signature’ campaigns launched by Rama Rao against the GST on handloom products.

"When the Centre had imposed GST on handloom products including khadi, handloom, handicrafts, mats, pots and ploughs in 2017, the TRS government not only defended Prime Minister Narendra Modi but also prevented the Congress from protesting against it," Uttam Kumar Reddy recalled.

If the TRS government was honest in its demand, Uttam Kumar Reddy said, the state government should bear the GST burden on handloom products as a subsidy.

He asked Rama Rao to explain why the TRS government had neglected the Primary Handloom Weavers' Cooperative Societies (PHWCS) which play a crucial role in the development of the handloom industry.