The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : 1,300 new designs for weavers

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Aug 05, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

1,300 new designs for weavers

Special Correspondent

National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, helps out cooperative societies National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, helps out cooperative societies

INNOVATIVE DESIGN: V. Somasundaram, Minister for Handlooms and Textiles looks at the Handloom Cooperatives Buyer-seller Meet in Chennai on Thursday. — Photo: R. Shivaji Rao

CHENNAI: : Minister for Handlooms and Textiles V. Somasundaram on Thursday said 128 weavers' cooperative societies in seven districts were engaged in making 1,300 new handloom designs, as part of the measures to help weavers to adopt new marketing strategies.

The aim is to improve economic conditions of weavers through enhanced marketing facilities, he said, while speaking after inaugurating a buyer-seller meet to showcase 8,500 products made with the new designs developed by the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, and produced by various weavers' cooperative societies.

The NID experts had visited weavers' clusters at Kancheepuram, Arni, Erode, Paramakudi, Salem, Karur and Coimbatore to train 3000 weavers in designing. The Government had earmarked Rs.50 lakhs for developing the designs. It wanted to train 10, 000 weavers under this programme.

Darlie O Koshy, Executive Director, NID, said the meet was an important step taken by the State Government in collaboration with the NID to see that handloom goods with global brand names reached every part of the world through the design intervention strategy.

The strategy assumed importance in view of the changing consumer profile of the country, where 45 per cent of the population was in the below 35 years age group. The project aimed at mobilising the intrinsic strengths of weaving traditions and culture and connecting them to the needs of contemporary markets, developing innovative designs through value addition.

Many complex designs were completed in a short span, thanks to the use of information technology, which also facilitated development of specifications, besides passing on the creative communication to weavers. Commending Tamil Nadu for coming out with a fast mode proposal, he said the State wanted a total packaging, including the designing of logo. The NID had the talent to do it.

Mr.Koshy said the Tamil Nadu Handicrafts Development Corporation approached the NID for a tie-up for designing its products. Another major area to be considered by the Institute was automobile engineering. The Centre had set up a task force. Commissioner of Handlooms V.K. Subburaj said that with the annual sales of handloom goods in the State touching Rs.700 crores, the meet would go a long way in ensuring that the weavers did not lag in capturing the market.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu