Vijayawada: Home Minister urges people to encourage handlooms

Vijayawada: Home Minister Mekathoti Sucharitha inaugurating the two-day exhibition 'Vasantham', which showcased vast collection of handlooms, artifacts and handicrafts across the country, here on Friday. She appealed to the people to promote handlooms and handicrafts and encourage the artisans.

The two-day expo was housed at Sesha Sai Kalyanamandapam with the products ranging from sarees, dress material, household material of handicrafts among others. The Minister visited every stall in the exhibition. She said that our handloom workers could weave sarees, which could fit in a match box. Referring to the problems faced by the handloom workers, she said that many such exhibitions should come up across the State to encourage handloom dress material and sarees.

The handloom workers of Andhra Pradesh have been churning out good quality dress material, she said. "The future generations might not evince interest to undertake weaving as a profession," she wondered.

Minister Sucharitha recalled that Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had undertaken various welfare measures to encourage handloom weavers. Sale of handloom products through APCO is one of the measures, she added and appealed to the people to buy handloom dress material and sarees for the welfare of the handloom workers.