The handiwork of Sircilla’s powerloom weavers is set to be adorned by schoolchildren for the fourth year in a row. Rajiv Vidya Mission (RVM), the agency which funds school uniforms in Telangana, has enlisted the weavers’ services for the coming financial year, placing orders for around 2 crore metres of fabric worth ₹100 crore.
For the past three years, RVM has been placing bulk orders for weaving uniforms to be distributed among students of government educational institutions. Earlier, the orders were for only 1.5 crore metres of cloth worth ₹75 crore, but this time round, it has been bumped up to 2 crore metres to cover high school students too.
tericot fabric
Around 13,500-odd powerloom weavers of the textile town will use tericot fabric to fashion pants and shirts for boys and salwar-kameez and scarf (chunni) for girls.
Assistant Director of Handlooms and Textiles V. Ashok Rao told The Hindu on Monday that bulk orders by the government had brought about a lot of change in the lives of distressed weavers and kept them busy throughout the year.
Christmas gifts
Even as weavers completed work on Bathukamma sarees, they are now busy with Christmas gifts to be delivered within a few days for distribution by the government, he said.
After the Christmas order, the weavers would be engaged in weaving the school uniforms, Mr. Rao said and added that the work is expected to be completed within three months, in time for distribution among students for the next academic year.
With regard to the distribution of Bathukamma sarees, which was stalled following the election code of conduct, Mr. Rao said the targeted production of 90 lakh sarees worth ₹280 crore had been completed.
GO awaited
Now, government orders are awaited for the distribution of those sarees among beneficiaries.