DHARMAVARAM (ANANTAPUR DISTRICT): Keeping his promise made to the handloom weavers during his 3,648 km Praja Sankalpa Yatra, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy launched the YSR Nethanna Nestham scheme here on Saturday. Addressing a large gathering, the Chief Minister said the scheme will benefit 85,000 handloom weaver families in the State. “Under the scheme, Rs 24,000 will be credited directly into the bank accounts of the weavers having own looms every year. The amount will not be adjusted to the old dues of the beneficiary to the bank. We have already spoken with banks in this regard,” he said.
Exhorting the weavers not to be in despair, Jagan said the government will door deliver the aid promised in the YSR Congress election manifesto to the beneficiaries of Nethanna Nestham. Under the scheme, every beneficiary will receive a total aid of Rs 1.2 lakh in the next five years. The scheme will greatly benefit the weavers to overcome their financial problems, the Chief Minister said.
Of the total 85,000 beneficiary families, 27,000 weavers belong to Anantapur district, including 10,700 from Dharmavaram. Financial aid will also be provided to 57 families of weavers, who committed suicide in Anantapur district between 2014 and 2019.
“No one is in a better position than me to know the problems of weavers. My Pulivendula constituency is near Dharmavaram. Whenever weavers of Dharmavaram were in distress, it was me who stood by them and raised the voice against the injustice meted out to them,” Jagan said. Recalling his interaction with the handloom weavers during his Praja Sankalpa Yatra, Jagan said he only saw despair among them.
APCO will be cleansed after probe into irregularities: Jagan
“Almost all of them are poor and the majority of handloom weavers are in a debt trap. Several of them resorted to commit suicide,” he said, and blamed the previous TDP government for their plight as it neglected the handloom sector. He said the Andhra Pradesh State Handloom Weavers Cooperative Society (APCO), which is supposed to provide succour to the handloom weavers, was ridden with scams and corruption to benefit ‘yellow shirts’ during the previous regime. “We have ordered an investigation into the irregularities in APCO. Once the inquiry report is out, I assure you APCO will be cleansed,” he said.
Reiterating his government’s commitment to the economic uplift of Backward Classes, the Chief Minister said he is determined to prove that BCs are backbone classes of the society. He listed out the initiatives taken by the YSRC government in the last six months for the development of BCs. With the introduction of village/ward secretariat system, 4 lakh jobs, including 1.3 lakh permanent jobs, were newly created. About 81.5 per cent of the jobs were given to SCs, STs, BCs and minorities.
The Amma Vodi scheme will be launched on January 9, 2020. About 25 lakh houses will be allotted to the poor families on Ugadi, he said. “Our aim is to ensure social justice to every region and every individual irrespective of their caste, creed, gender, religion and political affiliation. We implement the schemes in a way that they reach the last-mile person. In spite of all this work done by my government, my detractors are spreading canards. You are my strength. With your blessings and god’s grace, I will do even better in the coming days,” Jagan concluded.