Mandate on APCO cloth procurement

Hyderabad: In a bid to improve the lot of the handloom weavers in the State, the Andhra Pradesh Government has mandated all its departments to procure cloth from APCO for their uniform needs. Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, the Chief Minister, has asked departments like police, prisons, RTC, endowments, social welfare, Singareni Collieries and fire services should place orders for cloth with the cooperative. Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) too would buy cloth from APCO. APCO, in turn, should procure the required cloth from primary weavers' cooperative societies and meet their yarn requirements. 'If need be, the Government increase the budgetary allocations for these departments,' a press release said, quoting the Chief Minister.