A day after beginning a postcard campaign, KT Rama Rao, the minister of handlooms and textiles for Telangana and the working president of the TRS, launched an online petition calling on the union government to reject the 5% Goods and Services Tax (GST) on handloom goods in order to ‘protect India’s cultural heritage’ and the lives of weavers.
KTR claimed that, ‘India is home to almost 5 million handloom workers who produce unique products without the aid of mechanical energy. And the highly decentralized and rural-based handloom industry mostly has women in its workforce,’ in the case filed against the Center.
KTR sent a postcard to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday asking him to reduce the 5% GST on handloom products. On Sunday, KTR initiated the online petition on change.org. Minister KTR tweeted about the petition and urged everyone to sign it and forward it to their friends and relatives. He has urged people to band together for the ‘noble cause.’
‘GST on handlooms is a direct threat to the millions of people who earn their livelihoods in the handloom sector. Weavers across the country unanimously oppose taxes on handloom since it has resulted in huge losses, forcing many to turn away from the traditional craft,’ he tweeted.
According to Minister KTR, one of the largest unorganised sectors and a vital factor of rural and semi-rural livelihood is the handloom industry. He added that handloom weaving is one of the richest and most vibrant components of Indian cultural heritage and that it is currently suffering because to the COVID pandemic. ‘Any move to hike the levy will sound the death knell for the sector,’ he said. Since independence, this is the first government, according to him, to impose a GST on handlooms.
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