Implement ‘Worker to Owner’ scheme before Sankranti or face protest: KTR’s ultimatum to Congress govt

BRS working president and Sircilla MLA KT Rama Rao on Wednesday issued an ultimatum to the Congress government, demanding implementation of the flagship ‘Worker to Owner’ scheme before Sankranti. He warned that if the government failed to meet the deadline, the party would launch a massive protest involving nearly 10,000 weavers in the town.

Speaking to media persons after visiting the Apparel Park in Sircilla, Rama Rao said the Congress government was deliberately stalling and systematically sabotaging the scheme for the past two years. He demanded that funds be fully allocated for subsidised powerlooms in the upcoming State budget, finalise beneficiary lists, and issue allotment letters to eligible weavers before the festival.

“If the government does not act before Sankranti, Sircilla will rise in protest after the festival,” he declared. He stated that the agitation would mobilise the entire weaving community against anti-weaver policies of the Congress.

The former Minister said the ‘Worker to Owner’ scheme was born out of former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao’s long-standing commitment to the Sircilla textile industry. He



recalled how the latter had responded to a spate of weaver suicides in 2005 in undivided Andhra Pradesh and later fulfilled his promise to protect the community after the formation of Telangana.

Rama Rao said initiatives such as Bathukamma saree orders worth Rs 3,400 crore transformed weavers’ livelihoods in the State, raising monthly incomes significantly and providing assured work. He termed the Worker to Owner scheme as a revolutionary concept aimed at breaking the traditional hierarchy in the textile sector by empowering workers to become entrepreneurs.

He said the Congress government had neglected the Rs 400-crore Apparel Park near Sircilla, with completed sheds lying unused, and even used for paddy storage. “This is a criminal waste of public money and a betrayal of weavers’ aspirations,” he said.

The BRS working president asserted that the project was envisioned to create at least 1,500 worker-owners and generate employment for 25,000 women, turning Sircilla into a textile hub on the lines of Tirupur. He reiterated that the BRS would not relent and that a large-scale movement was inevitable if the scheme was not revived immediately.