Banarasi saree manufacturers and other people associated with handloom work are weathering the market fluctuations caused by Covid and have major hopes with this Union Budget.
Varanasi handloom workers are expecting a subsidy for electricity for their business as Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is all set to present the Union Budget 2023-24 on Wednesday (February 1).
Speaking to a news agency, Abdul Kalam Azad, a handloom worker, said that workers of the sector expect the government to bring back the old subsidized rates.
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"75 percent of people in the city are associated with the handloom business. Our biggest challenge is electricity. A few years back, the bill used to be Rs 75 per loom, it was the subsidised rate. Later it was 500 But now it is Rs 300. We expect the government to bring back the old subsidised rates," Azad said.
"If the government fulfills our demand, our business of power looms will grow here. We can save some of our earnings," he added.
Another handloom worker also cited a similar problem and said, "Power must become subsidized like before. People are quitting this industry and are taking other jobs. Government must help us or else our business will decline further."
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Banarasi saree manufacturers and other people associated with handloom work are weathering the market fluctuations caused by Covid and have major hopes with this Union Budget.
"We should be provided with electricity properly. I agree that the government is providing all the necessary facilities to us, but we don’t get them due to corruption. So the government should do something about this. We want to sell out products to the government directly and demand a solution for this," Karimuddin Ansari.
The Union Budget 2023-24 may be the last full budget before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Like the previous two Union Budgets, the one for fiscal 2023-24 will also be presented by the Union finance minister in paperless form.