Varanasi, Jan 30 (KNN) The handloom workers in the city of Varanasi are expecting that the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will announce subsidy on electricity rates for the small scale industry to grow.

The Union Budget 2023-24 will be presented on February 1, 2023 in the Parliament.

According to a report by ANI, Abdul Kalam Azad, a handloom worker said that workers of the sector expect the government to bring back the old subsidized rates.

Explaining the expectations of the workers to ANI, Azad said, “75 per cent of people of the city are associated with the handloom business and electricity is our biggest challenge.”

“Few years ago, the bill used to be Rs 75 per loom, it was the subsidized rate. Later it was 500 but now it is Rs 300. We expect the government to bring back the old subsidized rates,” he said.

This will also help us save some of our earnings, he added.

Voicing similar opinion, another handloom worker Mohammed Haneef Hansari 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.”

Major hopes are tied to the upcoming Union Budget as Banarasi saree manufacturers and other people associated with handloom work are weathering the market fluctuations caused by Covid-19.  (KNN Bureau)