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Handloom weavers constituting second largest sector in the country, is most neglected by the government. Poverty, impoverishment, unemployment, starvation and indebtedness among weavers are reflected in weavers’ suicides reported from different pockets in the country from time to time.

One out of 12 households in India derives its primary income from handloom sector. It provides employment for 12.5 million people and is the largest rural employment provider next to agriculture. In Andhra Pradesh (including Telangana), there are about 320,000 handlooms providing employment to about 500,000 families directly and 2000,000 families indirectly.

Handloom sector is informal with all transactions based on informal contracts. Handloom production is not governed by laws of Commercial Taxes, Income Tax, Labour or Establishments or industries department. Minimum Wages Act is not applied for the weavers.

Average handloom weaver’s daily expenditure is one of the country’s lowest, about half a dollar per day! Wages have not increased in the last 15 years and weavers’ households are suffering growing poverty.