National Handlooms Day Celebrated with Enthusiasm Across Three Districts in Andhra
Tirupati: The 10th National Handlooms Day was observed with great enthusiasm in Tirupati, Chittoor and Nellore districts on Wednesday. District officials, along with local representatives and handloom workers, participated in various events to mark the occasion and highlight the importance of the handloom sector.
In Tirupati district, the day began with a rally organised by students of the Pragada Kotaiah Indian Handloom Training Centre in Venkatagiri town. Collector Dr S. Venkateswar, accompanied by local MLA Kurugondla Ramakrishna, flagged off the rally.
Addressing a gathering at Padmashali Kalyana Mandapam, the collector emphasised that the handloom sector holds the second position in the country after agriculture in terms of employment generation. He affirmed the state government’s commitment to advancing the handloom sector in all aspects.
The district collector announced several initiatives to support handloom weavers, besides plans to construct roads and side canals in weaver colonies to prevent water-logging during the rainy season. He also promised to discuss about loan subsidies with bankers and explore measures to develop the Indian Handloom Training Centre, which is unique to the two Telugu states.
In Chittoor district, celebrations took place at the district secretariat where collector Sumit Kumar unveiled new initiatives for handloom weavers. He announced plans to provide financial assistance for essential equipment and infrastructure. Recognising the economic difficulties faced by many handloom workers, he also proposed introduction of insurance coverage to protect from health and safety risks.
To meet the growing demand for handloom products in various states, the district collector revealed plans for promotional exhibitions, which will feature stalls at key locations such as the secretariat, sub-registrar offices, government hospitals, ZP offices and MPDO offices. Additionally, he promised to discuss with officials on bank loans, insurance and other support needs of the workers.
In Nellore district, collector O. Anand led the National Handlooms Day celebrations by garlanding the statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Gandhi Bomma Centre. He urged everyone to wear handloom clothes to support weavers and highlighted various welfare schemes available for handloom workers, such as PMEGP, Cluster Development Programme and Pradhan Mantri Bijli Yojana.
The collector emphasised the need for the district cooperative society and district machinery to work towards ensuring these welfare schemes reach the handloom weavers. He encouraged weavers to take advantage of these programmes to achieve financial stability.