Sixty one-year-old P.S. Rangarajan from Sirumugai took to weaving at the age of 26. He has been weaving silk and kora sarees. He takes two days to weave a saree and earns about Rs. 400 a day.
He starts weaving at 6.30 a.m. and continues to do so till 9 at night. Hence, he hardly has time for domestic work and his wife also helps him in weaving.
However, he is away from the loom for 15 days as he is attending a training programme on “design development”, organised under the Integrated Skill Development Scheme by the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International School of Textile and Management and the Department of Handloom and Textiles of the State Government.
Rangarajan decided to take part in the programme to know more about designs and to widen the scope of products he can weave.
Rangarajan and 14 more weavers from Sathyamangalam, Sirumugai, Pollachi, Vellalore, and Palladam are taking part in the two-week training, in which each weaver is paid Rs. 150 a day as stipend and is also given course materials.
The workshop includes theoretical classes, industrial visits and demonstration of computerised design facilities. On the need for such a programme, S. Mohanraj, who is one among the trainers, says that “The weavers here have not adopted latest technologies in handloom. They are not aware of the government schemes available too.” Saree is the main product that the weavers in the region weave. But, there are 39 potential areas that they can explore, adds C. Rameshkumar, director of the Vallabhbhai Patel institute.
“We do not have the funds to purchase yarn or other raw materials to weave and we do not know how to reach prospective customers”, says V.P. Arumugam, another participant from Vellalore. One of the sessions at the training will be introducing weavers to opportunities in e-commerce portals, where they can sell their goods directly.
Mr. Rameshkumar says this is the first batch of weavers to be trained at the institute this year under the scheme and the institute plans to train more weavers this year.