A weaver exhibiting off merchandise to prospects on the handloom expo in Kozhikode.
| Picture Credit score: Aabha Raveendran
It was the final Sunday earlier than Onam and the weavers on the handloom expo organised by the Industries division at Stadium grounds in Kozhikode have been largely whiling away their time chatting with one another. A handful of shoppers have been loitering across the stalls searching for one thing specific and sometimes not discovering it. Some stroll away simply as they ask for the worth of a product, discovering it too excessive for his or her liking.
“If not for the 20% authorities rebate nobody would wish to buy handloom merchandise. The costs have gone up a lot over the previous 12 months. However it’s past our management as the costs of uncooked supplies too have gone up,” stated T.Venugopalan, a weaver with the Kadathanad Weavers’ Cooperative Society.
Hopes shattered
For the normal handloom weavers’ societies throughout the State, Onam is the height season and the entire 12 months is a preparation for it. Aside from that, they provide college uniform materials and another merchandise by means of ‘Hantex’. The Industries division units up handloom expos in each city through the pageant seasons corresponding to Onam, Vishu, and Christmas in choose areas. The societies arrange their stalls with all their premium merchandise, hoping to make sufficient revenue to clear the losses incurred throughout the remainder of the 12 months. Nevertheless, their hopes have been shattered this 12 months.
“The gross sales are very poor this season. We haven’t even bought practically half of what we had introduced right here, in contrast to the earlier 12 months when regardless of heavy rains, lots of people had turned up right here,” stated P.P. Chandran, a weaver with the Vadakara Weavers’ Cooperative Society.
‘Poor help’
Most of those weavers discover the efforts made on the authorities degree to help the handloom sector insufficient. Their biggest problem is the unavailability of staff to maintain the custom going. The brand new era shouldn’t be on this career. Although the federal government is funding coaching programmes with stipend to draw them, the societies are in no place to rent the few ones. Even when employed, the remuneration shouldn’t be ok to maintain them of their jobs.
“What we’d like are good designers who might information us to enhance our color schemes, designs and advertising in such a method that we might compete with the powerloom sector. If the federal government is actually devoted to supporting this sector, give us a designer in every weavers’ society,” advised E. Sasi from the Payyormala Weavers’ Cooperative Society.
The powerloom sector imitating the handloom merchandise and promoting them low cost is one other main headache for the weavers.