Finance Minister to visit Ponduru in Srikakulam on National Handloom Day

Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs of India, Nirmala Sitharaman, is all set to visit Ponduru Mandal, in Srikakulam District of Visakhapatnam, on 7 August 2021. In preparations for her tour, Srikakulam District Collector, Srikesh B Lathkar I.A.S, directed concerned officials to make the necessary arrangements. The Union Minister will be celebrating National Handloom Day, commemorated on 7 August, and will be inspecting the Andhra Fine Khadi Karmika Sangham (AFKKS) in the Srikakulam District.  

As per the occasion itinerary, she will conduct a meeting with the concerned officials at the Agriculture Market Committee (AMC). Following this, she will be inspecting and reviewing the various schemes and policies implemented through the Khadi Village Industries Commission (KVIC) and Khadi Village Industries Board (KVIB).

In preparation of the Union Minister’s visit, the District Collector, along with the Srikakulam Superintendent of Police (SP), Amith Bardar IPS, inspected the AMC premises in Ponduru on 4 August. Srikakulam Joint Collectors Sumith Kumar, K Srinivasulu, Himanshu Koushik, and R S Sriramulu Naidu, along with various other officials, attended the review meeting. 

The District Collector added that the Union Minister will distribute benefits to the weavers, under the various schemes, after reviewing them. These will be implemented through KVIC and KVIB. Stalls will be set up by various government departments at Ponduru to showcase their achievements and talents to celebrate National Handloom Day and her visit to Srikakulam.

Ponduru is famously known as the “khadi village” internationally and is renowned for having its own Geographical Handloom Identification tag. Every weaver in the village boasts of a loom in their house. The effort by the weavers that goes into creating a handloom is a sight to behold.