Patna, Jan 30 (IANS): The Bihar government has approved school uniforms made by the Jeevika women's group for children of government schools under the Chief Minister's scheme. The weavers of Bhagalpur will prepare the cloth for the dresses though the cloth material has not been approved yet.

Bhagalpur District Industries Centre has handed over the sample of Khadi fabric to the Director of Silk Textiles. General Manager of Bhagalpur District Industries Center, Ramsharan Ram told IANS that according to the records there are more than 2,500 handlooms with 10,000 to 15,000 powerlooms.

He said, "Here handlooms and powerlooms have the capacity to provide cloth as per requirement. Bhagalpur cloth is better in terms of quality. Samples of clothes are given. If the order is received, its supply will be started immediately."

He said that samples of trousers, shirts and salwar-kameez have been given.

The Jeevika women's group of will provide uniforms to students studying in first and 12th classes in government-run schools of the state. Preference would be given to purchasing readymade dresses from Jeevika and buying locally manufactured fabric from Khadi, powerloom or handloom.

The Bihar Weavers Welfare Committee said that about one crore students will be provided two dresses each. On an average, nine metres of cloth will be used for dress of each girl student and six to seven metres for boys. The committee said that if the weavers of Bhagalpur get orders to prepare the uniforms, they will not only get a ready market but their economic condition will also improve.