Bathukamma sarees distribution to begin from Oct 9

The distribution of Bathukamma Sarees will be kickstarted across the State on October 9 ahead of Bathukamma festival celebrations to begin on October 17. For the first time, the sarees will be delivered to the beneficiaries at their doorstep in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic.

Handlooms and Textiles Minister KT Rama Rao along with Ministers P Sabitha Indra Reddy and Satyavathi Rathod, inspected the sarees at Haritha Plaza hotel in Hyderabad here on Tuesday. Handlooms and Textiles Director Shailaja Ramaiyer and other officials accompanied them.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister Rama Rao said the State government had spent Rs 317.81 crore to distribute more than one crore sarees to women aged above 18 years and having white ration cards in the State. 

The sarees are manufactured in 287 designs with golden and silver coloured zari work on their borders. Further, he pointed out that about Rs 1,033 crore were spent to



distribute four crore Bathukamma sarees over the past four years since the launch of the scheme in 2017. About 30 lakh metres of cloth was produced by thousands of weavers through 26,000 powerlooms in the State for these sarees.

“Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao is fully aware of the woes of weavers in undivided Andhra Pradesh. Hence, he came up with novel schemes such as Bathukamma sarees, Nethanna ku Cheyutha and others to extend all possible support to weavers to earn their livelihood. 

Besides Bathukamma sarees, the weavers from Sircilla and other areas are supplying school uniforms to the State Education Department and sarees being gifted under KCR Kits among others,” Rama Rao said. He added that the State government treated people from all religions equally and hence, sarees were being given to all women in the State on the occasion of Bathukamma, Ramzan and Christmas celebrations.