Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi once again expressed his feeling towards the common man by intervening to highlight the plight of weavers in Uttar Pradesh. He had written a letter to the minister requesting him to implement the already sanctioned Rs. 3000 crore package for the weavers and the Union Cabinet has agreed to announce a relief package for weavers in Varanasi that may include waiver of debt for both co-operative societies and individual weavers and a credit card for weavers.
The mission to find a solution to weavers' problems started long back when Rahul Gandhi received a letter from Abdussalam, a former MLA from Mubarakpur on 18th December 2010, narrating the pathetic conditions of the weavers in the area. On 23rd February 2011, Rahul Gandhi with representatives of weavers' community met the Prime Minister and apprised him regarding the problems being faced by them. Within a week, the Union Government, in its budget in February 28, 2011 announced the relief package for the bunkars. During his visit to Uttar Pradesh Congress General Secretary had again taken up this issue when he met the weavers in the months of July and November 2011.
Finally on 14 November, 2011, Congress General Secretary wrote to the Union Minister requesting to already sanctioned package to implement without any further delay. In his letter on November 14, Rahul referred to the Rs 3,000-crore loan waiver package announced by the finance minister in his budget speech this year. He had noted "This has so far not been implemented. It is, therefore, an imperative to ensure that the loan waiver package be implemented at the earliest... I would urge you to formulate an appropriate financial package for millions of bunkars, most of whom belong to weaker community and to the minorities. I would strongly recommend measures to ensure availability of yarn at affordable prices, access to credit in easy terms and freight reimbursement to retain the competitiveness of this sector". He also added: "I have discussed these matters with you and with the finance minister in person and I trust that these will receive your urgent attention."
During his speech in Phulpur kick starting the Congress campaign for the upcoming assembly polls in U.P, he had highlighted the issues of weavers and also had informed the people that the Central Government has sanctioned Rs. 3000 crore for the relief of the weavers. Around 1.5 lakh weavers are expected to benefit from the scheme. There are an estimated 13 lakh weavers across the country.
Rahul had visited Azamgarh and interacted with handloom weavers in July and spent time with artisans in Mirzapur district earlier this month. He said the weavers have been under considerable economic distress due to indebtedness. Citing that weavers have been facing difficulties due to high prices of yarn and stiff competition from the powerloom and mill sectors, Rahul wrote: "I would strongly recommend measures to ensure availability of yarn at affordable prices, access to credit on easy terms and freight reimbursement to retain the competitiveness of this sector."
During his address at Phulpur, Rahul had said "I visited weavers in Aligarh. The weavers there said their industry had died. I met many weavers in Navada. They said earlier many people came there, trade used to take place. There was work, there were gains. Everything ended. Now, they were laborers." "What was Uttar Pradesh government doing? It was looking somewhere else, it ignored their plight. What we did -- we went to the Prime Minister and said weavers were facing grave problem. We have to help people from all religions and cast there. The PM sent a package of Rs. 3,000 crore."
It is to be recalled that Rahul Gandhi always tried to intervene in the common man's issues earlier also. When encephalitis case started getting more aggravated, he requested the Central Government to look into the matter and as a result a team of Ministers led by Union Health Minister Gulam Nabi Azad visited Gorakhpur. In Bhatta-Parsaul and other areas where farmers were complaining wrong and forceful land acquisition by the Mayawati Government, Rahul Gandhi undertook a padyatra to have a personal look at the affairs. He realized the gravity of the situation and to find a long term solution he played a pivotal role to draft a new land acquisition policy. And now, Rahul Gandhi extended his helping hand to the struggling weavers in Uttar Pradesh.
Yes, Rahul Gandhi has started his mission with a positive spirit. And the Nation is looking forward to more and more effective intervention from this young leader.
Loading...
1:39
Rahul Gandhi in Phulpurby pressbriefin185 views
Link to this comment:
All Comments (0)