Ahead of the Panchayat elections next month, the Congress government in Telangana has unveiled two populist initiatives to woo women voters.
First, the distribution of one crore “Indiramma sarees” to eligible women. Second, onboarding the state’s women self-help groups (SHGs) to Amazon’s e-commerce platform to provide access to national and global markets.
Both moves were announced on the occasion of the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and are being portrayed as the Congress’s brand of women’s empowerment. The opposition parties view them as a clear attempt to influence the women voters in the coming elections to the local bodies.
Telangana has over 1.67 crore rural voters, with women accounting for roughly 51 per cent of the electorate. The state has over 12,800 gram panchayats and over 1.13 lakh wards, where the Telangana Panchayat Raj Act’s minimum 50 per cent reservation for women in panchayat seats, combined with SC/ST/BC rotation, typically pushes women’s representation well beyond the bare minimum.
In practice, this means no party can hope to call the shots in rural Telangana without the active support of women voters and SHG networks, which have long served as the foot soldiers for ruling parties at the village level.
As per the plan, one crore sarees will be distributed in two phases: about 65 lakh sarees in rural areas between 19 November and 9 December, and the remaining 35 lakh sarees in urban areas from 1 March to 8 March 2026, to coincide with International Women’s Day.
Mandal‑level “Indiramma saree” melas are being organised as high-profile events, with MLAs, ministers and local Congress leaders positioned in the front, and instructions being issued from the chief minister to run them in a festive, carnival-like atmosphere.
The sarees are to be given free to women above 18 years, holding ration cards, with Aadhaar‑based and facial‑recognition checks to build a robust beneficiary database that can be leveraged for future welfare schemes and political messaging.
The government is in talks with Amazon to create a digital storefront for products made by women SHGs in Telangana. State government officials and the chief minister have publicly stated that the aim is to provide a gateway to national and international markets for SHG products and turn successful groups into high-earning enterprises, although the arrangement is currently framed as being in the negotiation stage.
Telangana has lakhs of women SHG members under its rural livelihood programmes, and the Congress government has pointed to bank linkages and higher-value activities, such as SHG-run petrol bunks, as proof that these groups can generate a steady stream of income.
If scaled effectively, an Amazon-linked sales pipeline could add significant financial muscle for SHGs and modestly ease the fiscal tightrope by shifting parts of “welfare” into income-generating programmes.
Also read: BJP won't come to power in T'gana for next 50 yrs: T Raja Singh
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