Weaver castes back BJP, cite scheme benefits

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: As the BJP State government gathers anti-incumbency in the lead up to the Assembly elections, the weaver castes of Karnataka appear to be content with the saffron party thanks to a scheme launched in their favour.

Weavers, known as Nekara are divided among 29 castes, including Devanga, Thogataveera, Padmasali, Swakulasali, Kuruhinashetty, Pattasali, Sengundar, Hatagaara Koshti and others. They number more than 60 lakh in Karnataka and 10,000 to 15,000 voters in each constituency according to some estimates.

Then chief minister BS Yediyurappa launched the Karnataka Nekar Samman Yojana in 2020 when the pandemic had wreaked havoc on people’s livelihood. Weavers said that most of their demands had been met under Yediyurappa and his successor Basavaraj Bommai. The scheme provides subsidies from the State and Central governments to weavers so as to facilitate buying of powerlooms and computers.

Powerlooms ensure swift production of sarees whereas manual production of the same takes a week especially if there is crafty handiwork and embroidery involved. In the lead up to the Assembly polls, Bommai had decided to build on the goodwill that his government had among weavers and extended the Nekar Samman Yojana to labourers who work powerlooms, numbering more than a lakh weavers.

Monetary help of Rs5,000 is wired directly to labourers’ bank accounts by way of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) every month under the scheme. The CM had also disclosed the plan to set up smaller scale textile parks in 25 taluks of Karnataka.