Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi has urged the Centre to formulate an appropriate financial package for millions of “bunkars” (weavers), most of whom belong to weaker community and to the minorities.
The Congress party which has intensified its attack on the Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh on the twin issues — corruption and governance — besides development, expects this could check the caste politics of Mayawati-Mulayam in the Hindi heartland.
In a letter (November 14) to Union commence, industry and textiles minister Anand Sharma, Mr Gandhi said “I am writing to draw your urgent attention to the plight of bunkars or handloom weavers of Uttar Pradesh who have been under considerable economic distress on account of indebtedness. In February 2011, the finance minister had announced a loan waiver package of `3,000 crores in his budget speech which has so far not implemented. It is, therefore, imperative to ensure that the loan waiver package be implemented at the earliest,” he said.
Mr Gandhi further said “Earlier this month, I had visited the weaving cluster of Varanasi — Mirzapur-Bhadohi and in July I spent time in a bunkar village of Azamgarh. Listening to the bunkar community in the villages, on both occasions, I was informed that credit is also not easily forthcoming for these weavers.”
Measures should be taken to ensure availability of yarn at affordable prices, access to credit on easy terms and freight reimbursement to retain the competitiveness of this sector, the Congress general secretary said.