The Postal Department has honoured hundreds of weavers under the brand Chendamangalam Handloom with a postal cover that was unveiled recently.
The special postal cover, priced at ₹20, is a celebration and recognition of the handloom variety gaining a place in the Geographical Indication Registry 10 years ago, said Ajitkumar Gothuruth of Karimpadam Cooperative Handloom Weavers’ Society. He added that the release of the postal cover was a special recognition for traditional weavers.
According to Mr. Gothuruth, the handloom sector in the area was in severe crisis, and that the number of weavers had dropped to around 500 from the previous 5,000.
For the record, the Chendamangalam handloom was one of the worst affected by the August 2018 floods. Since then, weavers have been struggling to make both ends meet, as there was another wave of floods in 2019, which was followed by the pandemic and the resultant freeze on sales for two years, Mr. Gothuruth said.
He called upon the government to come up with incentives to attract fresh hands into the sector, as more and more people were abandoning it.
