Commissioner for Textiles and Handlooms Rekha Rani (third from left) along with the newly elected committee of COWE A.P. Chapter, in Vijayawada on Thursday.
| Photo Credit: Giri KVS

Commissioner for Textiles and Handlooms Rekha Rani on Thursday said the government would support initiatives like issuing health cards to women handloom workers and also extend help in facilitating necessary equipment and subsidies for producing eco-friendly bags from leftover fabrics in tailoring and handloom units.

Addressing a meeting organised by the Andhra Pradesh chapter of the Confederation of Women Entrepreneurs (COWE), Ms. Rekha Rani emphasised the growing importance of the handloom sector and said that the government was committed to establishing handloom clusters with the help of organisations like COWE. A pilot initiative titled “Chenetha Rathamu” (Handloom Chariot) had already been launched, enabling handloom weavers to directly sell their products in city streets and residential areas using mobile vehicles, with low investment and high returns.

COWE committee

The newly-elected executive members of COWE assumed charge at the meeting attended by the organisation’s national secretary Aparna and joint secretary Radhika.

Y. Geetha Srikanth was sworn-in as the new president of COWE, Andhra Pradesh, Vijayalakshmi and Jayalakshmi as secretaries, Y. Padmalatha as treasurer and Shobha Rani, Swathi Chandra, K. Kavitha, J. Shravani and Lakshmi Sujana as executive committee members.