MANY REJECT BATHUKAMMA SARIS, PROTEST

The government’s scheme to distribute over one crore saris free for women for the Bathukamma festival was marred by protests on Monday. The polyester saris procured from Surat failed to impress women who were expecting handloom saris.

At several places, women refused to take the saris saying they were of poor quality and in some places, the saris were burnt in protest. At Jagtial and in some places in Nalgonda, Suryapet and Yadadri districts, women played Bathukamma around the burning saris.

Industries secretary Jayesh Ranjan and director of handlooms and textiles, Shailaja Ramaiyer, dismissed allegations that they had supplied poor quality Bathukamma saris to women.

Addressing a press conference at the Secretariat, they said each sari was worth over `200 and the allegation that the saris cost `50 was “baseless and unfounded.”

Mr Jayesh said, “These are 100 per cent polyester saris procured from Surat. Orders were placed with textile firms in Surat after quality checks were done at four levels by textile experts. It’s not possible for anyone to make polyester saris for `50. They cost over `200. If some people are trying to create needless controversy over these saris with hidden agenda or malafide intention, there is little we can do. We are ready to send the samples of these saris to anyone for quality checks or any tests to find whether they cost `50 or `200 each.”

Ms Shailaja Ramaiyer said the scheme was introduced to help the debt-ridden weavers’ community.

“We opted for polyester saris because they are durable. We got the proposal for cotton saris later. But due to insufficient time, we could not change our decision. We will examine cotton saris next time.”

She said due to the order of Bathukamma saris, the income of powerloom weavers in Siricilla had more than doubled from `7,000 per month to `20,000.