INTRODUCTION

The handloom societies in Andhra Pradesh are organised as a two tier sructure with the primary societies in the village level called Primary Handloom Weavers' Cooperative Societies (PHWCS) and the APEX Society at the State Level called A.P. State Handloom Weavers' Cooperative Society Ltd., (APSHWCS), popularly called APCO. Since the handloom weavers were facing problems for getting inputs as well as for marketing their finished products, the creation of an APEX Society was thought of to address these twin problems by making timely availability of inputs and by providig effective marketing strategy. Further, the Government is aware that protection to the sector is required to be continued because of the pious obligation to protect the heritage of the State and support is required to be continued to offset the built-in cost handicap of the handlooms, the focus of all its policy has been to provide a level playing field so as to enable the weaver to stand up on his own and face the market in a level playing field.

Establishment and Objectives of APCO :

The Andhra Pradesh State Handloom Weavers Cooperative Society Ltd., (APCO) is the APEX Handloom Weavers Cooperative Society of Andhra Pradesh. The Society was registered in the year 1976 with registered No.T.P.W.44 under the Andhra Pradesh Cooperative Societies Act 7 of 1964 with the following main objectives, inter alia, among others

• To purchase raw materials and appliances, tools and machinery including spares as may be required for the industry and to sell the same to the member-societies .
  
  
• To purchase or receive for sale, the finished products of the member-societies by opening Sales Units, Godowns, Exhibitions etc., within the State.
  
  
• To establish and run sales units within and outside the area of operation for Exhibition and sale of products of member-societies.
  
  
• To hold, own, establish and hire processing units to under take and provide processing including dyeing, mercerising, printing and furnishing etc.. for all types of yarn and cloth, to the member societies and to other institutions and individuals.
  
  
• To advise and render assistance to member-societies in preparation of production programmes, design development, product diversification and such qualitative improvement as may be necessary in the products produced by the member-societies to be in tune with the consumer tastes and market demand.
  
  
• To arrange for the training of weavers sponsored by the member-societies in improved methods of weaving and latest techniques and also for the training of its own employees in sales techniques, accountancy and business administration etc.
  

Management of APCO

The APEX Society is managed by a Board of Management comprising of 31 Directors representing each of the 23 Districts, representative of APCO wool and seven official Directors including the Managing Director as Ex-officio Director and Vice-Chairman of the APEX organisation. The term of elected Managing Committee is of 5 years. APCO has 10 Divisional Marketing Offices in all major districts with a total supporting staff of 738 employees. 1136 Nos of Primary Weavers CO-operative Socities and Mutually Aided Weavers Co-operative Socities are affiliated to APCO supporting the backward linkage of production of Handloom Goods.

Working of APCO

The marketing and sales activity of APCO reached a pinnacle of Rs.137.30 crores during the year 2006-07 despite severe competition from mill-made and powerloom products. The performance of APCO during the last half a decade in terms of procurement and sales activity is tabulated below.

PROCUREMENT ACTIVITY :                                                        (Rs in Crores)

SALES ACTIVITY :                                                                       (Rs in Crores)

Action Plan for 2007-08

Improving sales through exhibitions/ road shows in the state as well as out side the state apart from counter sales through its 189 sales outlets in and outside Andhra Pradesh .

Obtaining orders for uniform cloth from APSRTC, Singareni colonies and private schools during the year 2007-08

Organization of exhibitions to expand the business in software companies .

To promote and implement effectively the Handloom Mark and Silk Mark to build trust among the consumers.

Integrated Handloom Cluster Development Scheme

THe Government of India has introduced a new scheme called the Integrated Handloom Cluster Development scheme. Under this scheme the O/o. Development Commissioner for Handlooms, New Delhi has proposed to develop 20 Handloom clusters through the country.

Chirala (Prakasham Dist) and Madhavaram (Kadapa Dist) Handloom Clusters were selected from Andhra Pradesh for development under this scheme

The main objectives of the scheme are (1) to empower Handloom Weavers and build their capacity to meet the challenges of the market (2) To facilitate collectivization of Handloom Weavers and service providers in the fields of procurement, production, marketing and other support activities. (3) To provide common infrastructure and activities in a viable format in the cluster. etc..

The total cost of the project is 2.00 crores and the duration is 4 years.

The scheme is sponsored and supported by Development Commissioner for Handlooms, Govt. of India, New Delhi.

Apco has been identified as Implementing Agency for holistic development of the Chirala and Madhavaram clusters. Two more clusters viz. Puttapaka(Nalgonda Dist.)and Kothapally (Karimnagar Dist.) are under pipe line.