Peddapalli: Women set afire a pile of Bathukamma sarees distributed by Telangana government protesting against their quality on Monday. They played Bathukamma around the fire to mark their protest.

Following the directions of Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, the Bathukamma sarees are being distributed to women aged 18 years across the state. Nearly 1.04 crore sarees are being distributed to women starting from Monday to Wednesday.

Women from Nandimedaram village in Dharmaram mandal in Peddapalli district received sarees from the officials on Monday. The beneficiaries got angry and questioned the officials about the poor quality of sarees. "The sarees are similar to the ones that are tied to wood in the fields to scare away birds," said a women working as SHG. The women staged a protest by tying the sarees to volleyball court.

Even in Jagtial district, women staged demonstrations by setting the sarees on fire on road at Lingampet village in Raikal mandal.

Young women at Budajangala colony in Jangaon district, who received sarees from the government, accused the state government for distributing sarees that not even Rs 50 worth. They accused the state government of dishonouring them by distributing the sarees of poor quality. Women expressed angry stating that the government is trying to distribute low-price sarees by claiming that Pochampally sarees.

In Yadadri too, women came to the streets and burnt the sarees that were given to them. The government is distributing polyester sarees which not even Rs 50 worth.

The state government spent a whopping Rs 222 crore for the distribution of 1,04,47,610 sarees to eligible women. Around 52 lakh sarees were procured from Telangana weavers in Sircilla creating over Rs 70 crore business.

As the government was running short of time, the sarees were procured from Surat and other cities through national level tender system.