The UP cabinet has passed an amended version of a popular 2006 flat rate subsidy measure for electricity used by powerloom weavers in UP after doing away with it in 2019 in what is a significant step to assuage woes of the weaving community- a significant voting bloc in Purvanchal- ahead of 2024 polls, and also ties with the party’s Pasmanda Muslim outreach as most weavers are backward Muslims.
However, the revised rates and conditions have not gone down too well with a section of the community.
The flat rate subsidy scheme started in 2006 under the Mulayam Singh government has been cited by weavers as a key measure that kept them afloat. Under it, weavers with any level of connections were required to pay a flat rate of Rs 130 every month for looms using 1 HP of energy in urban areas and half of it for 0.5 HP loom. In 2019, the Yogi Adityanath government made unit-based billing mandatory which could have risen their monthly expenditure on power to Rs 3000. After weavers protested, the new rule was put on hold and multiple meetings were held with weaver representatives to understand their concerns. The uncertainty regarding it however kept the community on tenterhooks. The state has about 2.5 lakh powerloom machines through which about 5.5 lakh weavers- concentrated mostly in east UP districts of Varanasi, Mau and others, earn their livelihood. In 2022 state polls, BJP had performed underwhelmingly in many districts of Purvanchal.
Now, the government has finally announced reinstating the measure on Tuesday, renaming the scheme as Atal Bihari Vajpayee Powerloom Weaver Electricity Flat Rate Scheme which will be brought into effect from April, 2023, albeit with increased rates. Additionally, all past dues up till March 31, 2023 will be paid according to 2006 rates- a big relief for weavers.
There are 86,000 powerloom connections in the state out of which 73,588 are of 5KW or less. For connections up to 5 KW, in urban areas, where most powerloom connections are- a weaver will now have to pay Rs 800 for a 1 HP machine and half of it for a 0.5 HP one. In rural areas, the rate is kept at Rs 600 and Rs 300 for the categories. For those with connections higher than 5KW, the government will pay Rs 700 per HP to a maximum of Rs 9100, and the remaining will have to be borne by the weavers.
“The UP government has given our weaver brothers the gift of flat rate as Eidi right before Eid. I want to thank the CM on behalf of the weavers that his government is working so seriously for the success of our weavers and Pasmanda brothers,” MoS for minority welfare Danish Azad Ansari, who himself belongs to the Pasmanda weaving community, said in a statement saying many weavers have thanked him for the decision.
“We had been promised that the increase in the rate will be reasonable but the new rates are too high and will be difficult to pass on to our products as there is competition too among weavers across the country. Besides, the condition of up to 5 KW is also worrisome. We had demanded Rs 200 per HP for all categories of connections. We will hold a meeting of our organisation to discuss how to take this forward. We welcome payment of dues according to 2006 rates though and are thankful to the government for it,” Haji Iftikhar Ahmed Ansari, president of the UP Bunkar Sabha, told ET.
