Keeping in mind the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh in 2012, AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with a PCC delegation and handed over a memorandum seeking loan waiver for handloom and powerloom weavers in the state. It is estimated that currently weavers’ loans stand at `3,400 crores.
Informing about the meeting, UPCC chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who was also part of the Congress delegation, said, “Rahuji met the Prime Minister and apprised him of the weavers’ plight. The weavers, particularly in North India are in acute misery because of the increase in prices of cotton yarn and silk yarn.”
AICC general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Digvijay Singh, senior state Congress leader Pramod Tiwari and a few others from the state were also part of the delegation, which met the Prime Minister.
Interestingly, Mr Gandhi urged the Prime Minister to include the loan waiver proposal in the Budget for 2011-12, which will be unveiled by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on February 28.
When asked about the Prime Minister’s response, Ms Joshi said, “He assured us that he will consider the demand which he termed are genuine.”
Besides loan waiver, the Congress delegation also urged the Prime Minister to consider providing credit cards for the weavers on the lines of “kisan credit card”, which are given to farmers. The other demands made by the delegation included regulation of cotton export, reduction in the cost of yarn and extending loans at a subsidised rate.