VIJAYAWADA: YSRC president and Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy reiterated that he has always stood by the weavers and that he had even nominated weavers to two Assembly seats to ensure their socio-political empowerment.
Interacting with members of the weavers community in Mangalagiri on Saturday, the 14th day of his ‘Memanta Siddham’ bus yatra, Jagan pointed out that he convinced the incumbent Alla Ramakrishna Reddy to step aside and gave the ticket for Mangalagiri to Murugudu Lavanya who hails from the weavers community.
However, TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu, though well aware that Mangalagiri has more BCs, did not give the tickets to a BC. Instead, he gave it to his son Nara Lokesh, he said.
“Lavanyamma probably doesn’t have as much money as Naidu’s son. When the election arrives, they may offer you Rs 4,000, Rs 5,000, or even Rs 6,000 per vote. If they offer you money, take it, but please vote only for those who will provide Amma Vodi and Cheyutha. Vote only for those who will improve children’s education and work for our community. Vote for someone who will help poor people get out of debt and give them pensions at their homes. Vote for those who will make everyone happy without treating anyone unfairly,” he said.
Emphasising that his government has prioritised the political empowerment of the weaver community, he said in municipalities like Proddatur, Rayadurgam, Venkatagiri, Yemiganuru, Jaggaiahpet, Chirala, Dharmavaram, and Pedana, where weavers population is more, the municipal chairpersons belong to weaver community. “That is our commitment,” he stressed.
Mocking TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu for making tall promises, but forgetting them afterwards, Jagan said in 2014, Naidu promised waiver of property tax to weavers’ cooperative societies’ buildings, which never materialised.
“Naidu promised VAT exemption on silk used in weaving sarees. He did not do it. The promise of Rs 1 lakh institutional loan to weavers remains unfulfilled. The creation of a Rs 1,000 crore corpus fund for weavers is also one such promise. Instead, what he did is push the Andhra Pradesh State Handloom Weavers Cooperative Society (APCO) into a debt trap,” Jagan alleged.
The Chief Minister said in the last 58 months, his government has fulfilled every promise made to weavers and other sections. “We have tied up with e-commerce platforms like Amazon, Myntra, and Flipkart to sell the handlooms via online platforms. Further, we have cleared Rs 120 crore debts in APCO and gave Rs 460 crore for the development of handloom weavers. We are giving three sets of uniforms for every student in the government schools, and the preference has been given to handloom weavers. Only extra orders in excess are given to power looms. More than 44 lakh students are studying in government schools,” he said.
He further explained that a huge sum of Rs 3,706 crore was spent on handloom weavers and through YSR Nethanna Nestham Rs 970 crore was paid, benefiting 1,00,006 weavers. “We are giving Rs 3,000 as pension to elderly weavers and that too at their doorsteps with the help of volunteers,” he said.
Further, the YSRC chief assured the people of Mangalagiri that 54,000 house sites will be distributed by resolving the legal hurdles created by Naidu.