Centre doubles sop for UP weavers to 6,000cr

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Saturday announced a Rs 6000-crore package for the handloom sector, doubling the announced financial relief , in what is seen as an outreach to the weaver community with authorship of Rahul Gandhi ahead of the crucial UP elections.

The sop increased with the government , including individual loan defaulters, who are not part of a cooperative for loan amnesty , and in giving incentive for timely payment of loans and price subsidy on yarn. The financial intervention is aimed at winning over the weaver community, comprising largely Muslims, lest UP chief minister Mayawati dismisses it as a political package.

Congress is banking on textiles ministry’s largesse to strengthen its appeal among the Muslims. Faced with a clutch of “secular” outfits in BSP and SP, the party thinks the anti-incumbency against BSP coupled with Centre’s package can help it emerge as the minority community’s first preference in the upcoming polls.

Congress heir apparent Rahul Gandhi has been championing the cause of weavers during his visits to eastern UP, and has left little doubt that the package is his personal gift. Rahul turned it into a weapon against the BSP government at the UP poll campaign launch rally in Phupur on November 14. He announced that the Centre had decided to directly transfer the money to eligible individuals since it did not want to risk it via the corrupt state machinery. The possible mode for direct disbursement of the financial aid could be the “weavers’ credit card” . The card would be issued to eligible individual weavers who can access loans up to Rs 2 lakhs for three years. They are likely to get an interest subsidy of 3%.