Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao was striving for the development of the washermen community in the state and had allocated Rs. 250 crore in the budget for their welfare, finance minister T Harish Rao said at the "Washermen Blessing" meeting in Huzurabad today.
The minister said that the government was officially celebrating Chakali Ailamma Jayanthi today to honour the community. He said that the Chief Minister had been introducing many programs for the welfare of all communities and to protect their traditional trades, and that the washermen community featured prominently among those. He said that the government was already providing free power supply upto 250 units per month for washermen. Loans would soon be provided to the community through a Washermen Corporation. And three acres of land was given to the community in Hyderabad apart from Rs. 5 crore to protect their dignity.
Rao said that the state government had requested the Centre to provide reservation in legislative bodies for washermen and also to create a separate ministry for them, but that there was no response from the Centre.
Minister for Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Talasani Srinivas Yadav too garlanded the Ailamma statue at the Mudfort Dhobhi Ghat, and also participated in her 126th jayanthi celebrations at the Lower Tank Bund Dhobhi Ghat.