The Heggodu-based Charaka and Desi Trust, which had shut down operations due to huge losses and lack of sales due to the pandemic and the lockdown, is organising a series of exhibition-cum-sale of handmade products to get back on its feet. The first such exhibition will be held at Gandhi Bhavan, Kumara Park East from October 2 to 4.
Charaka, the largest naturally-dyed handloom fabric manufacturer in the country being run as a co-operative by women, is saddled with a whopping 87,000 metres of unsold fabric and about ₹16 lakh worth of garments.
Desi, which markets products of Charaka through 15 stores in Karnataka, has a stock of garments worth around ₹1 crore. “We continued working during the lockdown to ensure the women do not lose jobs. But there was no sale, which has left us with unsold stock. We have run out of cash and were left with no choice but to shut down operations,” said theatre person Prasanna, the key force behind Charaka and Desi Trust.
Grama Seva Sangh has now taken up ‘Save Gramodyog’, a two-part initiative which will include a rural campaign where villagers will picket panchayat offices seeking answers as to why the rural economy is in dire straits, and an urban campaign led by consumers to encourage the purchase and support of handmade products.
The exhibition at Gandhi Bhavan is the first of a series of exhibitions, which will be held across the State. The slogan for the exhibition is ‘Come in as a consumer, go out as an activist’.
