Hyderabad: Slamming the UPA government for
its apathy towards weavers across the country, BJP National
Secretary P Muralidhar Rao, on Wednesday began a three-day hunger
strike here protesting the policies of the Central and the
Andhra Pradesh governments, for the distressed community.
Addressing a gathering after launching his 72-hour-long
hunger strike, in wake of the pathetic conditions of weavers,
Rao alleged that the central and state governments have been
setting up Economic Special Zones and granting funds in crores
to various firms and companies, but have totally neglected the
weavers in handloom and powerloom sector.
Urging the UPA government to announce a clear textile
policy to help weavers, the BJP leader said India`s handloom
sector was in acute distress as thousands of weavers have
committed suicide due to the wrong policy of the government.
"Successive Congress governments, in Andhra Pradesh and
at the Centre have neglected this sector for years and have
pushed it towards decimation," he said adding that the
condition of weavers has deteriorated sharply across the
country, during the Congress-led UPA rule.
Condemning the Andhra Pradesh government policy towards
the weavers community, Rao claimed 700 weavers have committed
suicide since 2006 in the state due to debt, negligence by
government agencies towards weavers for their products and
high cost of production and no remunerative prices.
The weavers societies were made to suffer on account of
delay in payments running into lakhs of rupees for several
months by marketing organisations created by the government,
he alleged.
PTI
