Subsidised saris: Shoppers throng KSIC showroom

People, in large numbers, queued up before the Mysuru Silk showroom of the Karnataka Silk Industries Corporation (KSIC) on Tuesday, in anticipation that sales of subsidised silk sarees would begin in the wake of Gowri festival on Wednesday.

The sarees that are worth over Rs 10,000 are supposed to be sold at Rs 4,500. There are reports that people visited other KSIC showrooms also in the city, inquiring about the much-awaited subsidised saree. A notice was found on the shutter of the Nazarbad showroom that the sales will begin on Tuesday.

As soon as the news spread that the sales of the sarees of the famed Mysuru Silk brand would begin on Tuesday, people thronged the shop and subsequently formed a queue. They have been demanding the showroom staff to start the sales as they have been waiting for a long time. Some of them had come to the shop, in the hope of being early birds, as early as 6 am.

The staff of the showroom sad, they have received only 1,500 sarees of the subsidised variety, with a direction that they should be sold by drawing a lottery. “A copy of the Aadhar cards of the prospective buyers will be received and a token will be issued to them. A draw of lots of the counterfoils of the tokens will be drawn at 3 pm. Sarees will be sold to only those whose names are drawn in the lottery. But, people are not agreeing and are demanding for distribution on first-come-first-serve basis,” they said. Police personnel are deployed to keep the people under control.

It has to be recalled that soon after being sworn in as Sericulture and Tourism Minister, Sa Ra Mahesh had announced that the subsidised sarees would be sold from the day of Varamahalakshmi festival.

On Varamahalakshmi festival also, people had visited the shops, but had to return disappointed as the staff informed that the scheme had been postponed. Then, Mahesh had said that the scheme had to be postponed due to the election model code of conduct that was in force. The election to the Mysuru City Corporation and other urban local bodies (ULB) was held on August 31.