New brand of silk sarees to be launched tomorrow

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a unique initiative to make use of the hundreds of handlooms lying idle in and around the district, the State Government is launching a new brand of silk sarees and materials - Thiruvananthapuram Silks - which will be woven on handlooms and designed by master designers to meet the taste of the new generation.

 Aimed at the empowerment of the handloom industry, the new brand will be launched by Industries Minister Elamaram Kareem on August 18. The function, in the presence of Health Minister P K Sreemathi, will also kickstart an exhibition-cum-test sale at Hotel Chaithram here.

The Thiruvananthapuram Taluk Integrated Silk Handloom Weavers’ Co-operative Society (TISH-fab), intends to cash in on the fact that the highest per capita usage of silk in the country is in Kerala. As of now only a very small percentage of this humongous demand is met from within the State. Many renowned names in textile designing have been roped in by the Textile and Traditional Industries Protection Council (TIPCO) for creating exquisite designs. Some of them include actor-turned-designer Poornima Bagyaraj, Namrita Bhatia, Anju Nair, Mausmi Chatterjee and Kala Thampi.

``These are the purest silk sarees you will find in the country and this texture cannot be replicated on powerlooms or in other parts of the country. Ultimately, we hope the embellishments and other value-addition to the sarees will be done by the weaving families themselves,’’ said TIPCO chairman V R Panicker.

It may be recalled that it was the powerlooms which spelled doom for the handlooms in the State.

 What makes the Thiruvananthapuram silks unique is the fact that it is totally eco-friendly, with efficient use of power. ``There will be no need for machines, or even electricity. All that it needs is the skill and creativity of the weavers,’’ said S Mohanan, managing director of Kerala Handloom Silk Consortium, which is also associated with this novel project.

 By this project, the individual earnings of a traditional weaver will quadruple. ``While he used to earn just Rs 100 for 2-3 metres of cotton cloth, weaving 3 metres of silk fabric gets him Rs 300 to Rs 400. This can be doubled if some family member can be trained in value addition too. After agriculture, it is the handloom sector which has the largest traditional workforce,’’ pointed out Cooperative Society president S Surendran.

 The National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) has already disbursed Rs 2 crore, which is 40 percent of the first year’s allocation for the project. The second instalment will soon be released. The West Bengal Government also has promised support for the project.