Handlooms and Textiles Minister P Shankar Rao, giving a rejoinder to the Telugu Desam Party President N Chandrababu Naidus criticism over the suicides of the weavers in the House, claimed that he has done more in his short stint for the weavers than Naidu had done during his entire rule.

Speaking to media persons at the Secretariat on Tuesday, Dr. Shankar Rao alleged that Naidu had chosen to portray the weavers natural deaths as suicides, which was unfair. As against 1,900 suicides as shown by Naidu, the Minister stated that 700 weavers committed suicides due to the lack of sustenance, based on a government survey. Further, the government released Rs. 5.49 crores towards ex-gratia to the 362 families of those who committed suicides, each family receiving Rs. 1.50 lakhs.