Handloom societies get chance to sell products at PGRS

Ongole: Prakasam district joint collector R Gopala Krishna stressed that supporting handloom products is everyone’s responsibility.

He participated as the chief guest in the National Handloom Day celebrations at the Collectorate here on Thursday. Speaking at the event attended by handloom workers, he highlighted the crucial role of handloom products in the freedom movement. He emphasised the collective responsibility to preserve the handloom sector, which has withstood the test of time. He announced government initiatives to support the historically significant handloom industry through electricity subsidies, GST concessions, and financial assistance to weaver families. He assured prompt action to clear pending dues from APCOB to handloom societies. The JC announced that the administration will provide opportunities for societies to sell handloom products during Monday grievance sessions at the Collector’s office. He appealed to the public to support handloom products as another freedom movement.

District Lead Bank Manager Ramesh announced expedited approval of Mudra loans for weavers. He announced that under the Mudra scheme, 217 applications were received in 2024-25, with 27 beneficiaries sanctioned loans worth Rs 26 lakh. Twenty individual work sheds valued at Rs 1.2 lakh each were approved under the Comprehensive Handloom Cluster Development Scheme. Assistant Director of Handlooms Raghunandan revealed that 1,762 handloom workers over 50 years receive a monthly NTR pension of Rs 4,000 in the district.

The joint collector and the officials honoured handloom workers during the ceremony, which was preceded by a rally from Prakasam Bhavan to the Ambedkar statue.