Hyderabad: The BRS on Monday demanded that the state government provide an ex gratia of Rs 25 lakh to the families of weavers who died by suicide since the Congress came to power in Telangana six months ago.
BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao in an open letter to Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy said, “weavers’ suicides are not suicides but government killings.” He accused the government of being responsible for such deaths arising from unemployment in the weavers’ community in the state. The government must pay ex gratia of Rs 25 lakh to each of the affected families, he said.
Rama Rao said 10 weavers took their lives in the past few months and the extreme step taken by them was a result of the “administration’s neglect and vindictive policies against the initiatives for weavers started by the previous government. The weaver community was thriving during the last decade under the previous government, but is now in a severe crisis reminiscent of the united Andhra Pradesh era due to the current government’s actions.”
