For the third successive year, Progressive Techies (PT), a socio-cultural organisation of IT employees, has embarked on a noble mission to promote the umbrellas made by tribeswomen of Attappady thus helping them earn a decent livelihood.
The organisation started taking pre-orders for the umbrella branded as Karthumbi earlier this month and received 70 orders on the very first day itself. The umbrellas are being made under the aegis of Thampu, an organisation working for the welfare of tribal women in Attappady.
“We had sold over 12,000 umbrellas ever since we started associating with the initiative in 2017. Last year, Vypeen MLA S. Sarma funded the sale of umbrellas to students from poor background in four government schools within his jurisdiction. We hope to continue that association while also trying to work out similar tie-ups with other MLAs in the district,”said PT president Anish Panthalani.
While in the first year, PT propagated the brand even outside the Infopark and managed to secure an order for 4,000 umbrellas from Mumbai, last year it was largely limited to the Infopark. The organisation is planning to give maximum publicity to the indigenous brand through social media.
Thampu president Rajendra Prasad said that umbrella-making is already under way in 200 families in various tribal hamlets and the sales this time is expected to exceed over one lakh. “We opted for decentralised production in individual households this time so that the women are spared the hardships, including loss of time of travelling to a centre, of a centralised arrangement. We are expecting orders from almost all panchayats,” he said.
Umbrellas of different sizes and colours are being made with a price tag ranging between ₹325 and ₹500. The women engaged in the initiative earn ₹50 per an umbrella ensuring a daily income between ₹750 and ₹1,000.
The umbrella-making projectwas started as a way to address the rising child deaths in Attappady.
