Kerala Govt aims to reweave Villikulam's handloom industry
10 Nov '06
2 min read
Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, Tourism Minister of Kerala, laid the foundation stone for a handloom facilitation center at Villikulam area located near Balaramapuram.
Balaramapuram has been famous for last 200 years as the village where excellent designs for sarees, bed sheets, churidar and dhotis are made by weavers. But due to lack of official support and promotion, handloom industry has suffered in recent years.
Currently there are 600 weaver families in the village who are less known and their works are sold at cheap rates, with maximum profit being made by middlemen who supply them to showrooms in cities. For ten hours of hard work, weavers get an average pay of just 50 rupees.
Central Government is giving a grant of Rs5 million, while state Government is giving Rs1.8 million for encouraging rural tourism and these amounts will be used to nurture the handloom industry in Villikulam.
Tourism Official U V Jose said 16 families of full-time weavers have been selected. Their broken sheds will be repaired for working and a facilitation center will be constructed later so that they can showcase their creations for tourists.
Responsibility for developing the project has been given to Kerala Industrial and Technical Consultancy Organization (KITCO) which is supported by IDBI and Kerala Government. Architect G Shankar is designing the facilitation center.
marketing@alchempro.com
