Debt trap looms large over Andhra Pradesh weavers

…of work, putting in effort to weave one saree to barely save up ₹250 to ₹300 after expenses. Their labour keeps the loom moving back and forth, but delayed government payments keep them constrained to just meet ends. “ We manage to weave one saree in a day. After setting aside expenses for warps and wefts, we are left with ₹250 or ₹300 a day, ” Janaki says, questioning how this is sufficient to run a family. Pointing out the primary reason for their ordeal, Koteswara Rao says that the Andhra Pradesh State Handloom Weavers’ Co-operative Society Ltd. (APCO)…

…is sufficient to run a family. Pointing out the primary reason for their ordeal, Koteswara Rao says that the Andhra Pradesh State Handloom Weavers’ Co-operative Society Ltd. (APCO) failed to pay wages to the weavers. “ For more than a year, we did not receive wages on time. If we furnish a saree today, we would get payment for the same after one or two months, ” Koteswara Rao, in his late 60s, says. According to the National Federation of Handlooms and Handicrafts (NFHH), which has been working with handloom weavers in the State since 1988, the State government is yet to pay…

…the same after one or two months,” Koteswara Rao, in his late 60s, says. According to the National Federation of Handlooms and Handicrafts (NFHH), which has been working with handloom weavers in the State since 1988, the State government is yet to pay ₹265.09 crore, an amount which has been pending since 2016, to APCO and handloom societies. The weaving sector once sustained by cooperative societies across Andhra Pradesh, particularly in East and West Godavari and B.R. Ambedkar Konaseema districts, is currently reeling under mounting dues, dwindling orders…

…stands at 215. Some of them left to work under master weavers and some others left for other professions, including agricultural work, even if it means more work and less pay, says K. Vasu, the society’s manager. “ It was to eliminate the middlemen and master weavers that such societies were formed. But today, the whole purpose is defeated, and we have gone back to living in the pre-Independence era, ” Vasu says. For one, Devi Vijayambika Weavers’ Cooperative Production And Sale Society Ltd., located in Pedana, has almost wound up its operations due to financial constraints. A small society, it once had around 30…

…constraints. A small society, it once had around 30 weavers working, and now there are five left. Chinta Rao, now in his 60s, was one of the last people from this society to start working for a master weaver. “ What other choice did I have? All the benefits that we enjoyed once as society members have been taken away from us, ” he says, adding that the manager of the society resigned a few years back. Chinta Rao used to get financial support from both the Union and State governments in the form of yarn subsidy, thrift fund and also marketing…