Gram Seva Sangha to showcase, sell products of handloom weavers from North Karnataka

Gram Seva Sangha, a federation of handloom weavers and workers, will set up a showroom in Bengaluru to showcase and sell products of handloom weavers from North Karnataka.

This showroom will store and sell saris, clothing and other material made by handloom weavers and handicrafts persons from North Karnataka. This was decided in a meeting of various handloom workers and NGOs in Guledagudda village in Bagalkot district recently.

The meeting discussed various issues haunting the handloom sector and tried to explore solutions to them. One of the major decisions taken in the meeting was to convert consumers into hand-made activists by exposing them to the problems faced by workers and craftsmen. “Saving the hand-made is a sacred movement and we want to tell them to be part of this,” Prasanna, theatre personality and hand-made activist who was among those who spoke at the meeting, said.

It was also decided to start a State-wide campaign to find markets for hand-made products this month. An exhibition-cum-sale of handloom products will be held in the Gandhi Bhavan in Bengaluru till October 4. A series of deliberations will be held on October 3 and 4, in which modern designers, institutional buyers and marketing experts will participate. After that, the exhibition will move to select towns and cities in the State.

The sangha plans to work with designers and professionals in other fields for stage-wise improvements in the field of handloom and hand-made products, Mr. Prasanna said. Several organisations, including Participatory Guarantee Systems, All India Handloom Federation and Karnataka Gandhi Smaraka Nidhi, are joining the effort.

“In the Guledgudda meeting, we decided to raise 10 questions before all our elected representatives about rural development and condition of artisans,” Mr. Prasanna said.

“Our motto is ‘Delhi should come to us and we will not go to Delhi’. We are giving out a message that we are not fighting the governments. The governments at both levels — Central and State — are bankrupt and they will not save us. We have to save ourselves. The people should protect us. This is as serious as a ‘second freedom movement’ and each one of us has to contribute in our own way. This is not an agitation of anger, but of love. Each city dweller should help rural residents. City-based families will be invited to visit villages where artisans work. They will be asked to spend a day or two among artisans. That will act as a picnic and help them in information download during discussion with weavers and craftsmen. It is a constructive programme and not a political movement,’’ he said.