200 women artisans to participate in industry interaction

KOCHI: Around 200 women artisans will be participating in an industry interaction and brainstorming session on August 29 to showcase their skills and explore business opportunities.

The artisans are presently undergoing six months intensive training in textile ornamentation under the Kerala Artisans Development Corporation (KADCO), a press release here said.

Kerala IT and Industries minister P K Kunhalikutty, will be Chief guest at the function while Public Works Minister V K Ebrahim Kunju will be the Special Guest at the interaction hosted by Kerala Institute for Entrepreneurship Development (KIED) at nearby Kalamassery.

The artisans will also be able to display their handiwork to representatives of leading garment manufacturers and sellers taking part in the session.

KADCO is hoping that the industry experts' assessment of their skills and work will help improve the training programme, open up employment and business opportunities for the trainees and enable them to adopt industry best practices.

KADCO is a welfare organisation under the Department of Industries. Its training programme for the women,which started in March this year under guidance of Directorate of Industries and Commerce in Ernakulam and Thrissur districts, has been focusing on garment-making using traditional and contemporary designs indigenous to Kerala, promoting local resources.

The participants have been learning basic ornamentation, hand embroidery, ornamentation work on bridal net cloth and shawls, pattern-making and other skills.

"The domestic and international textiles market is collectively worth around Rs 500,000 crore; Kerala has plenty of potential to tap into this vast market", IT secretary, P H Kurian said.

Kerala lags behind other states in production of the much in demand fancy and ornamented garments, partly because of a lack of skilled workers. The training programmes by KADCO are a key step forward for us to address the skills gap, he added.

"Until some five months ago, most women participants in our training programme were limited to domestic duties in their households. Today they are designers and artists whose works can compete with the best professionals in the textile industry', said KADCO Chairman K Purushothaman.
KADCO Managing Director Abhishek C said the goal of their project was to reduce dependence of Kerala's textile manufacturing sector on professionals in other states for designing, ornamentation,embroidery and other value additions. He hoped the trained women will be able to grow into micro group entrepreneurs capable of supplying products within Kerala and outside.