Bhubaneswar: SHRADDHA, an NGO dedicated to promotion of handloom and increasing the earnings of the handloom weavers, crossed another milestone in its journey, with the organization of a handloom sale-cum -show exhibition in “Club Pran of Z1 Estate residential complex, here, last week.
Five weavers including Sarat Kumar Patra and Ms. Sukanti Meher, both national awardees for excellence in handloom, from Nuapatna-Maniabadh, Barapalli, and Gopalpur handloom clusters attended the program for display and sale of their fabrics. Ms. (Dr) Namita Mohanty former member of OPSC, resident of the complex inaugurated the event in the forenoon.
Sambad editor Ms. Tanaya Patnaik and eminent film maker Sabyasachi Mohapatra along with the residents of Z-1 visited the exhibition and encouraged the participating weavers. The day long event witnessed sale handloom fabrics worth Rs 3.5 lakhs . The event generated lots of enthusiasm among the participating weavers, as the purchase was made in cash/online and their earnings were sizably higher as the sale was on “Direct to Customer(D2C).
Dr Sanjay Kumar Panda, Founder & President of SHRADDHA (former Secretary, Ministry of Textiles) explained the background of this low cost, innovative, marketing initiative to the visitors and solicited their support for the cause. The facility was made available to the reputed weavers, who have come forward to work with SHRADDHA, free of any charge.
Surendra Kumar Patra, Vice president, (former Deputy Director, Weavers Service Centre), Bansidhar Mahapatra, Secretary, Subhrangshu Roy, Ashok Sahoo and Gurudas Bramha (both inmates of Z1 estate) members supervised the event. While thanking the Z1 estate authorities, all the inmates and visitors, SHRADDHA team reiterated its commitment to carry forward such activities in pursuit of its mission.
