Hyderabad: TFMC & IKEA join hands in promoting Handloom Monday

Hyderabad: The Telangana Facilities Management Council (TFMC) and IKEA, claimed to be the biggest furniture company in the world, have joined hands in promoting 'Handloom Monday'.

Handloom Monday was a call given by IT Minister KT Rama Rao, which is an initiative to promote handlooms and support the weavers' community by wearing handloom clothes every Monday.

As part of this drive, TFMC has been organising handloom melas from time to time. It organised a one-day mini handloom mela, which kicked off on Monday afternoon at IKEA, which accommodated two handloom stalls.

This mela will be held every month on first Monday at IKEA and will continue for the next 12 months, said Satyanarayana Mathala, president of TFMC. It was formally inaugurated by Amarnath Reddy Atmakuri, Chief Relations Officer, Telangana IT Department.

Over 7,000 footfalls are expected to visit during the day. 'Handloom Monday' was followed by IT Industry judiciously till the pandemic broke. After the pandemic, the TFMC recently revived the initiative.

TFMC is the only body that has been taking forward the call given by KTR. The TFMC has organised 17 Handloom exhibitions at various IT facilities across the city. This is the 18th mela. IT employees purchased handloom clothes worth Rs 2 crore over some time through these melas.

Through the mela, the TFMC also revived its pledge to support handlooms and weavers and promote them.

The stalls which have come up at the exit lounge on the ground floor or IKEA featured handloom masks, Gadwal, Pochampally, Siddipet, Ikkat pattu sarees, handicraft products, handloom kurthas, jute bags, Kalamkari bedsheets, dress material, Mangalagiri cotton sarees, Kuppadam pattu sarees, dresses made from sarees and many others. Many IT employees were seen buying dress material, sarees, footwear and blazers. The mela which goes on close to IT employees enables them to visit, explore and purchase handloom clothes and start wearing them every Monday.