HYDERABAD: The state government will extend Rs 5 lakh free insurance cover to weavers from August 7. K.T. Rama Rao, minister for handlooms and textiles, on Monday said the ‘Nethanna Bima’ scheme would be launched on National Handlooms Day to benefit 80,000 weavers at a cost of Rs 50 crore per year. He said Telangana was the first state to provide insurance cover to weavers.
The state government had entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) to extend insurance to weavers on the lines of ‘Rythu Bima’ for farmers, Rama Rao said and added that the government would pay the premium every year.
He said weavers aged between 18 and 60 years were eligible for the scheme. Under the scheme, Rs 5 lakh would be credited in the bank accounts of their nominees within 10 days in the event of a weaver’s death.
In the Budget for 2022-23, the government allocated Rs 55.12 crore to the handloom sector and another Rs 400 crore was sanctioned under the weaker sections welfare budget, Rama Rao said.
As per the instructions of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, the government was implementing Chenetha Mithra, Nethanna Ku Cheyutha (thrift fund scheme), loan waiver scheme, research and development and brand promotion programmes, Bathukamma sarees orders, weavers thrift fund, 50 per cent subsidy on power utility by weavers, looms seva centres, worker to owner scheme, market incentives and other programmes, besides setting up Sircilla Textiles Park, Mini Textiles Park, Warangal, Sircilla Apparel Park and Handlooms Park, Gadwal, he added.
