Varanasi weavers to be taught skills to sell products online

NEW DELHI: Come June, weavers in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency Varanasi will be taught skills like photography, marketing, packaging and inventory control so that they can sell products directly through e-commerce, as part of a pilot programme.

"We are going to do a pilot project in Varanasi. We will enrol over a thousand weavers and teach them photography, cataloguing, packaging inventory control, etc. so that they can sell their products directly through e-commerce. It is a one-year project," Development Commissioner (Handlooms) Alok Kumar told PTI.

Funds for the project are being provided by Rural Electrification Corporation under a corporate social responsibility ( CSR) programme, Kumar said.

According to estimates, around 27 per cent of the population in Varanasi comprises weavers.