Surat: Federation of Gujarat Weavers Welfare Association (FOGWA) has threatened to gherao the powerloom service centres (PSC) run by the textile commissioner’s office in the city demanding release of Rs 300 crore subsidy amount, which is pending for last three years , under the Technology Upradation Fund (TUF) scheme of the central government.FOGWA office-bearers stated that the delay by the central government in release of the amount under the Amended Technology Upradation Fund Scheme (ATUFS) has left a large number of weavers in the man-made fabric (MMF) sector face huge financial losses.Powerloom weavers said that 1,500 files are pending for subsidy approval at the textile commissioner’s office since a long time long time for small technical errors. Taking benefit of the subsidy, these weavers had ordered machinery from foreign countries, but with the delay in release of the subsidy amount, many of them are facing difficulties in repaying bank loans.FOGWA president Ashok Jirawala said, “The weavers have made representation on the subsidy issue at various platforms for the last two years. Recently, another delegation had met the Union textile minister Smriti Irani, but failed to elicit any positive response on the issue. We demand the issue to be resolved before the elections, or else we will be forced to gherao the powerloom centres in the city.”He further said that the weavers have been forced to sell the powerloom machines in scrap due to the pending subsidy issue. “If the issue remains pending for long, weavers will have no option but to shut their units,” Jirawala added.

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