Hyderabad:Crowdfunding brings ray of hope to struggling handloom artisans

Hyderabad: One of the finest Ikat weavers, Jayamma from Koyyalagudem of Yadadri-Bhuvanagiri district who was struggling to meet ends following the lockdown, is amongst the hundreds of handloom artisans being helped through crowd-funding. Already coping with the onslaught of power looms, this pandemic was a major jolt to artisans and pushed them to destitution. But artisans of different age groups are able to slowly bringing back their lives on track, with little assistance of working capital. "This pandemic has taken away whatever little extra earning I had. We are just beginning to earn a little better and recuperating from the financial crunch. I thanked God for help, when I saw that some money was added in my account," says Jayamma. To compensate the wage-loss that these artisans and handloom workers are incurring following lockdown, the Creative Bee Foundation (CBF), along with the support from crowdfunding platform Milaap could send grants to the accounts of over 2,000 weavers and artisans directly in 7 villages, to help them tide over the tough times.

Besides this, essential supplies like ration and medicines were provided to the elderly and those with the least access, with the help of generous donors.

Another weaver Sathamma, from Warangal, who is a worker of handloom furnishing producers and started weaving from a young age, says, "With the ration provided during summer, we were able to sustain and slowly conditions improved after work began once again."

According to the Foundation, the CBF, an offshoot of the environment-conscious fashion and lifestyle brand Creative Bee currently supporting over 350 Handloom Weavers, Dyers, Block-Printers, Kalamakari Artists and Tribal Artisans, in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Through their online fundraiser, not only are they ensuring the survival of the handloom industry and workers, but are also raising awareness regarding the importance of preserving them. The fundraisers with Milaap was able to successfully raise Rs 2.7 lakh.

"We are pleased our weavers and artisans, being as proud as a community as they are, have decided to use these funds as working capital to produce goods so that they may generate an income for themselves, rather than wholly depend on charity. Such is the strength of this community. Creative Bee is in the process of further helping them sell their products through e-Commerce channels by arranging the cataloguing and uploading of their products," felt Bina K Rao, Foundation's Trustee.