To help the weavers of the state whose business and income have been affected during Covid time, chief ministerNaveen Patnaik announced a special package for them.Handloom sectoris one of the EMPLOYMENT generators in rural areas after Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture.
The state has 31,342 loom pits for weaving purposes. Out of these, 15,071 loom pits have been concreted so far. Under this special package, 15,000 loom pits of the weavers will be converted into concrete in three years in a phased manner. The will spend Rs 7,000 for each loom pit.
Similarly, a total of 3000 weavers will get house-cum-work shed in the first phase under this package. So far 11,695 house-cum-work sheds have been provided by the state to the weaver families.
The government has decided to provide houses to eligible weaver families on a priority basis. Beneficiaries will be chosen according to the guidelines of thePanchayati Raj department.
The state has put emphasis on assisting the weavers to get loans easily under this package. Naveen has directed the concerned officials to provide Rs 50,000 interest free loan to weavers.