Amaravati, Aug 7 (IANS): Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national General Secretary Nara Lokesh on Saturday demanded the Andhra Pradesh government to restore all subsidies, benefits and disaster relief assistance to the weavers of the state in the interest of their overall development.

Extending greetings to the weaver community, Lokesh made these remarks on occasion of National Handloom Day.

"It's unfortunate that the YSRCP government had stopped all the benefits that were being given to the weavers' families. More than Rs 50,000 worth incentives and concessions were denied to each weaver per year," he alleged.

The TDP leader also claimed that the state government led by Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy is only doling out Rs 24,000 to the weavers, and even that fails to reach most of the weavers.

"The purchase of weaver's products by APCO has also been stopped under this negligent government. The weavers are out of work while the income of the labourers has also shrinked," Lokesh alleged.

He also said that the state government did not come to the rescue of the weavers at the time of crisis.

The TDP leader said that he made several requests for providing Rs 1.5 lakh subsidy loans to the weavers for setting up their own looms, but the state government turned a deaf ear.

"The Chief Minister had ignored the demand for providing Rs 10,000 cash assistance per month to each weaver's family during the Coronavirus pandemic," he alleged.

Lokesh said the ruling YSRCP will pay a heavy price if it continues to betray the people with empty promises.

He also demanded that benefits under 'Neta Nestham' should be given to all the weavers' families immediately, including reviving all the welfare programmes and incentives, which were in place in the state during the previous TDP government.