APCO buys unsold hand-woven products

Andhra Pradesh State’s Handloom Weavers Cooperative Society Limited (APCO) has begun purchasing unsold handloom products from the 50 weavers’ cooperatives in East Godavari district.

Handwoven products valued at over 12 billion yen remained unsold in the district until the end of May.

On Friday, APCO placed an order to purchase 6,000 blankets from the two cooperatives Addampalli and Hasanbada in the Ramachandrapuram Assembly segment.

Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy instructed APCO chairman Chillapalli Mohan Rao to save the cooperatives by buying the hand-woven products that had been stored in the companies for months.

The Chief Minister directed APCO to purchase the unsold products after speaking from Backward Classes Welfare Minister Ch. Venu Gopala Krishna about the wretched condition of weavers and the impact on their lives when weaving in the district came to a standstill.

Last week, Mr. Venu Gopala Krishna inspected the cooperatives in the Ramachandrapuram Assembly constituency, where ₹ 1.3 billion worth of shares remained unsold, forcing the weavers to do other work for a living.

On Friday, Mr. Venu Gopala Krishna and Mr. Mohana Rao visited the cooperatives in Addampalli and Hasanabad in rural Ramachandrapuram and promised to buy nearly 13,000 blankets from the societies.

“A visit to the weavers should give you the certainty that you are buying their hand-woven products. By mid-June, APCO in East Godavari District will purchase all of the 12 billion yen worth of shares. The blanket is the main product that is woven in the district, ”said Venu Gopala Krishna.

Mohana Rao said the blanket purchase was delayed as welfare homes remained closed due to COVID-19.

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