BENGALURU: Leader of opposition in the Assembly Siddaramaiah has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging the Union government to reverse its decision to abolish the All-India Handicrafts Board and All-India Handloom Board. In his letter, the former chief minister has indicated that 31.4 lakh families will be adversely affected by the closure of these boards. “The boards have been a forum for the weaver communities to express their concerns and grievances, and acted as advisory bodies to formulate various programmes and policies concerning weaver communities and handicrafts industries,” Siddaramaiah’s letter read.
He said that abolishing the boards without corroboration that they are an impediment to the development process is an “attempt to stifle the rights and voice” of weaver communities. The letter comes at a time when the Congress has been launching attacks on the BJP government in the state for delay in the disbursal one-time Covid-19 assistance to weavers, as announced by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa in May.