Weavers to benefit from TN govt decision to distribute saris, dhotis during Pongal

The Tamil Nadu government has decided to continue with free saris and dhotis distribution scheme during the 2015 Pongal season. This scheme was started in 1982 by chief minister M G Ramachandran, after a failure of the north-east monsoon, to help the landless labourers. The scheme was upgraded in 2003 with the inclusion of polyster mix with cotton.

The Tamil Nadu government has allocated Rs 486.36 crore towards manufacture of 1.73 crore saris and 1.72 crore dhotis for free distribution. The saris will be of polycot variety. Based on the instructions of chief minister J Jayalalithaa, orders have been placed with weavers. A sum of Rs 240.55 crore will be given as advance to the weavers, according to an official release.

The state government has been distributing saris and dhotis to poor people during Pongal every year. Last year, the government distributed saris made of polycot (a mixture of polyester and cotton). This evoked good response and the government is extending the same this year too.

In 2014, the government had allocated Rs 486.36 crore toward manufacturing and a higher grade cotton was used for the manufacture of the dress material. Under this scheme, around 3.45 crore of population were distributed saris and dhotis and more than 11,000 handloom weavers and 54,000 powerloom weavers benefitted as they received the order for manufacturing saris and dhotis.

Recent Posts

Ciele Athletics introduces graphene-based performance fabric

Ciele Athletics has expanded its Elite running collection with a new performance fabric developed to help regulate body temperature during…

16 hours ago

Levi’s launches England Collection ahead of FIFA World Cup

Levi's has announced a new collaboration with The Football Association and the England National Football Team ahead of this summer’s…

16 hours ago

Arvind Advanced Materials acquires stake in Dalco-GFT

Arvind Advanced Materials Limited has acquired nearly 61% stake in Dalco-GFT, a US-based manufacturer of needle-punched non-woven specialty fabrics.

16 hours ago

GFA, ReHubs launch blueprint to scale textile recycling

Global Fashion Agenda and ReHubs have launched the 2030 Circularity Blueprint to strengthen T2T recycling and support the transition toward…

2 days ago

Accelerating Circularity to improve T2T recycling collaboration

Accelerating Circularity has introduced Textile-to-Textile Circularity Foundations to improve coordination and implementation in T2T recycling systems.

2 days ago

Claras Materials LLC to strengthen textile supply for recycling

Claras Materials LLC has announced its launch as a specialised supply chain company focused on post-consumer textile raw materials.

3 days ago