SIDDIPET: With the elections less than a week away, handloom workers in the Dubbaka Handloom Cooperative Society (DHSC) say they face serious problems as the irregular assistance extended by the government is not enough to sustain themselves and their family members.
Unable to make both ends meet, many workers from the constituency limits have migrated to Gadwal, Maharashtra and Pochampally in search of livelihood. According to the data available, the DHSC has about 50 handloom workers as members, who end up earning less than Rs 300 per day.
Ch Yellappa, a handloom worker, said: “Our lives will not improve unless there are employment opportunities. The government should increase the wages of handloom workers.”
He said the government was asking them to only make polyester fabric, which is used for uniforms of schoolchildren. “If we are asked to make Turkish towels, Lenin cotton, and other high-quality fabric, we could get a good price and our income will also increase,” Yellappa added.
The workers said that despite producing six to 10 metres of polyester fabric per day, the government payment of Rs 35 per metre results in daily wages of only about Rs 250 to Rs 300. Ramesh, another handloom worker, said that if they do not turn up for work due to ill health or other reasons, there will be a cut in their wages. “Sometimes, the wages do not exceed Rs 5,000 to Rs 6,000 per month. With these meagre wages, we are not able to make both ends meet,” he said.
Many workers said they have to avail loans, more often than not, for their children’s education. Another handloom worker said that the government should either increase their wages or ask them to produce higher-grade fabric. “We turn up for work at 8 am and leave only after 7 pm. Even after working for 11 hours, we don’t make enough to support our families. The situation will improve only if the government pays more to the handloom workers, or gives them monthly wages,” he added.
However, it is not only handloom workers. Farmers in the segment also have to face a host of issues. Shivakumar, a farmer, said there are many avenues to cultivate commercial crops in the Dubbaka constituency, but due to the absence of marketing facilities, many ryots like him are forced to grow a traditional crop like paddy.
Tight race anticipated
While the Congress and the TDP have traditionally been the biggest contenders for the Dubbaka seat, the BRS and BJP have secured victories recently. Cheruku Muthyam Reddy, who won on a TDP ticket, served as the civil supplies minister in the N Chandrababu Naidu cabinet. In 2004, journalist S Ramalinga Reddy contested as the BRS candidate and won against Muthyam Reddy, who contesting on a TDP ticket.
In 2009, Muthyam Reddy resigned from the TDP to contest as a Congress candidate and won against Ramalinga Reddy. In the 2014 and 2018 elections, Ramalinga Reddy, under the BRS banner, won twice.
A by-poll was necessitated in 2020 after the death of the then-incumbent MLA Ramalinga Reddy due to illness. His wife, Sujatha, contested on a BRS ticket but lost to BJP candidate M Raghunandan Rao. This was the first time that the saffron party had won in the segment.
With Raghunandan Rao again in the fray against Medak MP K Prabhakar Reddy, who is contesting on BRS ticket, analysts said the seat is going to be heavily contested. After being subjected to a knife attack on October 30, Prabhakar Reddy has kept away from the campaign. His wife Manjulatha Reddy and son Prithvi Krishna Reddy are campaigning in his stead. Former minister Cheruku Muthyam Reddy’s son Ch Srinivasa Reddy is contesting as the Congress candidate.
Raghunandan Rao said that though the BJP is not in power in the state, he had developed the roads in the constituency by putting pressure on the government. He said that he had fought with ministers and secured funds to complete the roads which have been pending for years. He contended that people would support him as he had roads laid from Chittapur to Chaudharypally, from Chaudaripally Cross Roads to Aakaram, and from Mirdoddi to Venkatraopeta via Alwal.
The BJP leader pointed out that when an individual had filed a case against him over the construction of a bridge in Kangal village, he spoke to him and had the case withdrawn. Raghunandan Rao said his accessibility to the people in the constituency and the BJP’s promise of making a BC leader the chief minister are enough to help him win the seat.
Srinivas Reddy expressed confidence that the services rendered by his father to the constituency, the guarantees given by the Congress and the anti-incumbency factor will contribute to his victory. Meanwhile, Prabhakar Reddy said the welfare and development programmes undertaken by the BRS in the state and the services he had rendered to the constituency as an MP will contribute to his success. He said that as an MP, he was available to the people and shared their hardships.