The Hindu Business Line : APCO chief alleges suicides by weavers

AS many as 120 weavers in the State have either committed suicide or starved to death during the last six months, according to Mr Balla Chandra Nageshwara Rao, Chairman of Andhra Pradesh State Handloom Weavers' Cooperative Society Ltd (APCO).

Stating that the handloom sector is in a crisis, Mr Rao said that non-enforcement of the Minimum Wages Act and the Handloom Reservation Act by the Congress Government in the State had deepened the crisis.

The APCO Chairman told newspersons here on Monday that the State Government had not released "even a single rupee" to APCO and Primary Weavers Cooperative Societies (PWCS) so far to mitigate the plight of weavers.

Apart from increasing the budgetary allocation to the handloom sector from Rs 50 crore to Rs 150 crore, he wanted the Government to waive the interest on loans taken by PWCS and issue identity cards even to those weavers who were not members of PWCS.

On its part, he said APCO would be opening 12 more handloom products showrooms - seven in the State and five across the country, including Agra and Chennai.

At present, APCO has 197 showrooms, including one in Delhi. APCO will purchase Rs 12 crore worth of cloth from PWCS by next month. It has purchased cloth worth Rs 10 crore from PWCS till now this year.

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