VIJAYAWADA: Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan, who declared himself as a brand ambassador for handlooms at a public meeting in Mangalagiri a few years ago, has been promoting handlooms. He accepted the challenge of Telangana IT Minister KT Rama Rao on Twitter and wore a handloom dress to mark National Handloom Day on Sunday. Pawan Kalyan in turn threw the challenge to TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, former Energy minister Balineni Srinivasa Reddy, and Dr Lakshman of BJP.
Accepting his challenge, Balineni sported a handloom shirt and trousers and posted the photo on his Twitter account. He said as a Minister for Handlooms in the YS Rajasekhara Reddy government, he strove for the welfare of handloom weavers and pointed out that YSR had waived Rs 300 crore loans of handloom weavers. Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy too is committed to the welfare of weavers and he has launched YSR Nethanna Nestham for their uplift. “We are always committed to the welfare of handloom weavers,” he asserted.
In a press release on Sunday, wishing handloom weavers on National Handloom Day, the Jana Sena chief said handlooms served as a non-violent weapon in India’s freedom struggle. “It is unfortunate that those who believe in this craft, which has been handed down as a heritage from generation to generation with different styles in each region of the Indian subcontinent, are still living half-starved,” the Jana Sena chief rued.
Stating that despite all odds, the craft of weaving is kept alive, Pawan Kalyan exhorted until the living standards of the weavers improved by the government, the people should support those who depend on this sector for their livelihood. “Every family in the country should take a firm resolve to wear handloom clothes at least once a week,” he said.