Handloom weavers in Telangana, one of India’s premier states in the sector, have faced an existential crisis, thanks to the state government’s adoption of a centralised tender system for supplying textile products to state institutions, for purposes such as manufacturing government school uniforms and others. Critics say the decision has been taken allegedly to increase revenues.
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The new system, which replaces the system whereby the products were provided through the Telangana State Handloom Weavers Cooperative Society Limited (TESCO), has imperilled the livelihoods of thousands of workers associated with the field, triggering sharp reactions from not only the handloom weavers but also the Opposition.
Order cancellation leaves workers anxious
Those who had already stocked yarn and dyes and also started production, have expressed dissent after finding that their orders have been cancelled as the state government reportedly scrapped a big school uniform order worth around Rs 105 crore that was assigned to the TESCO.
The situation was not always like this. In the past, orders worth over Rs 100 crore for textiles, meant for manufacturing government school uniforms, were placed with both handloom and powerloom workers through the TESCO under the Rajiv Vidhya Mission, a universal education scheme in the state. Besides, other supplies to ‘gurukulas’ (residential schools), including towels, small carpets and bed sheets, were also made through TESCO.
Telangana’s textile belt in jeopardy
This year, ahead of the new academic season, workers and weavers’ bodies across Sircilla, Karimnagar, Nalgonda, Mahbubnagar and Warangal, which constitute Telangana’s handloom and textile belt, had already procured yarns, dyes, and other raw materials. But the government’s decision to invite open tenders has jeopardised their future.
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Sircilla, which is known as the “Manchester of Telangana” for its high concentration of textile industry, is home to 30,000 power looms and 25,000 workers, all of whom are now facing uncertainty.
In the undivided Warangal district—where 56 handloom societies and 35 cooperative societies comprising 10,000 workers are located—the cancellation of orders has left everyone in the lurch.
The workers have slammed the government over the cancellation of the school uniform order, calling it a complete breach of the government order issued in March 2024 that mandated that livery items for government departments be procured “exclusively” from TESCO to promote the handloom industry and ensure that the weavers’ livelihoods are not threatened.
The state education department has been accused of inviting tenders to facilitate the collection of commissions. Former state minister and the working president of the Opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), KT Rama Rao, claimed the government was favouring privatisation through such a step.
Govt didn’t respond: Union leader
It has been alleged that the state’s Congress government is indifferent to the weavers’ problem. Kodam Ramana, president of Rajanna Sircilla District Powerloom Workers Union, said that despite representatives of the body meeting Vem Narender Reddy, a Rajya Sabha MP and a close associate of Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, and submitting a memorandum requesting reversal of the decision on the open tender, no action has been taken.
Anguished, Ramana said the state government’s stance is detrimental to the powerloom workers and that the industry in Sircilla has almost ceased to function.
Even ‘Ramadan Tofa’ goes missing
It is not just the cancellation of the livery items’ order which the workers are worried about. The order for the making of clothing, traditionally distributed among underprivileged Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan every year, has also not been received.
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Guduri Praveen, a BRS leader, told The Federal that the order for the ‘Ramadan Tofa’ (Ramadan gift) has been awarded to a private company. According to him, the government violated its own March 2024 order to deal a severe blow to the workers.
Asking how the handloom community would sustain under such hardships, Praveen urged the government to adhere to the March 2024 order to bring back TESCO’s prominence and secure the livelihoods of thousands of weavers.
Opposition legislators urge govt
Echoing Praveen’s thought, BRS Member of Telangana Legislative Council, L Ramana, wrote to CM Reddy, requesting that the government order be abided by and the crore-worth scrapped order be awarded to TESCO.
Recently, the handloom workers also staged a massive protest at Indira Park in Hyderabad, pressing for these demands.
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Telangana’s Communist Party of India MLA Koonmneni Sambasiva Rao said he would raise the issue when the Assembly meets. Demanding that adequate priority be given to the handloom industry and the workers’ grievances be resolved urgently, he urged the state government to release pending funds under the thrift scheme that takes care of the handloom weavers’ financial security and implement the state’s loan-waiver programme.
The Left leader also suggested that appropriate funds be allocated to the sector, one of Telangana’s major ones, in the state budget.
(This article was originally published in The Federal Telangana.)
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