D Gangaram (50) fell ill with diarrhoea and died without receiving proper treatment. While his family members were stranded on the road, crying, fellow-workers mobilised money for his funeral.
M Manohar (48), another weaver, was jobless for the past three years; he sold his house and eventually suffered from paralysis. He was bedridden for three years. He finally died yesterday. He managed to stay alive all these years because of his wife’s earnings.
M Venkatesam (50), another weaver, whose first son committed suicide because of hunger and poverty, succumbed yesterday to a severe kidney ailment. His final attempt to seek treatment for his failing kidney under the state government’s much trumpeted ‘Arogya Sree’ card failed because the state-run Heath Centre said that kidney ailment was not covered by the scheme. Two more, Ch Rajesh (60) and J Venkatesam (31) died of poverty and hunger yesterday. In Nellore district, one more weaver G Venkateswarlu hanged himself to death because of hunger and poverty.
The debt-trapped powerloom weavers of Andhra Pradesh, particularly those from Sirisilla town of Karimnagar district, fall severely ill or commit suicide. The owners expect the weavers to work their socks off. They are required to work on eight looms instead of the usual four. They hardly earn Rs 100 per day after working the whole day on eight looms.
On an average five to six weavers end their lives every month in Karimnagar district. The recent visit of Chiranjeevi, leader of the Prajarajyam Party, to this powerloom town to console the grieving families, has unnerved the other political parties, including the ruling Congress party. The ruling Congress party has pathetically failed to address the suicides in this powerloom town. It is now jittery since its political opponents are bent upon taking advantage of the situation.
Login
 Login through Social ID
|
