BELAGAVI: Suicide of weavers in Belagavi has continued with the government failing to address their woes and fulfil the promise of purchasing woven sarees. On Wednesday, two more weavers committed suicide in Belagavi in separate incidents. The debt-ridden weavers were identified as Ganapati Jyotiba Sangapannavar (45) of Malaprabha Nagar, Vadgaon, and Ganapati Ramachandra Buchadi (60) of Laxmi Nagar in Shivaji Galli, also in Vadagaon.
According to sources, the weavers were facing hardship and were unable to pay their loan installments as there were no buyers for the sarees they had weaved. The Shahapur police have registered separate cases.
So far this year, two weavers have committed suicide in Belagavi while 30 weavers have ended their lives across the state. Last year, four debt-ridden weavers had ended their lives in Belagavi city while 20 weavers committed suicide in the state.
The troubles for weavers, who have micro weaving in their houses units, started after the first lockdown last year. They had already invested in raw materials for sarees, but with absolutely no sales, they could not even recover the cost or sustain themselves. The pandemic aid of Rs 2,000 has not reached them and the assurance of the previous government, led by B S Yediyurappa, to purchase sarees from the weavers has fallen flat.
Belagavi Weavers’ Association secretary Parashuram told TNIE, ‘The situation of weavers is worsening with every passing day and debt-ridden farmers have no choice but to end their lives. The cost of raw material for weaving sarees has increased, but there are no buyers. Those who do buy sarees are not making payments. In such a critical situation, the government has turned a blind eye. Families of weavers who committed suicides are not getting relief funds for several months. The Textiles minister should visit the Belagavi and Bagalkot clusters of the weavers’ community to understand ground reality.”