August 6, 2021: For more than a decade now, Entrepreneurship Institute of India (EDII), has been working to train weavers and artisans in the field of entrepreneurship. Through collaboration with Government Initiatives as well as private organizations, EDII has been imparting mentorship and guidance in several handloom and handicraft sectors of the country through their unique and innovative training modules.
The Institute had been designated as the National Resource Agency for the Development Commissioner Handlooms, Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India under Integrated Handloom Cluster Development Programme providing Handholding and Mentoring Support to 20 pilot clusters across 12 states of the country, since 2004. Apart from ensuring revival of clusters such as Sivsagar, Sonepur, Varanasi, Chanderi, through a focused strategy, EDII has also been organizing exhibitions and networking events for these handloom clusters.
To deepen the impact and ensure a holistic revivification, EDII has floated the project, ‘Hand Made in India.’ More than 6207 traditional handloom weavers from across six handloom clusters in India have been trained under the Project ‘Handmade in India’ (HMI) by Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII). In view of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the institute has also provided training to these weavers on digital marketing, portfolio creation and online payment gateways. Implemented jointly by EDII and Ernst & Young LLP (EY) and supported by HSBC, the project intends to instil self-reliance among traditional weavers. Interventions such as credit linkage, capacity building, market linkage, design development, social media marketing and enterprise development are being conducted at handloom clusters of Maheshwar, Bhuj, Surendranagar, Kamrup, Bargarh, and Salem.
Speaking about this mentoring initiative for weavers and artisans, Dr. Sunil Shukla, Director General of EDII, said, “India has unparalleled tradition of handloom and handicraft. This sector is not only a deep expression of our cultural heritage but also plays an important role in providing employment. Due to this unique blend, the sector needs to be nurtured and mentored to thrive in the modern era. Through our training modules, we teach these weavers and artisans the nuances of entrepreneurship such as business development, scalability, resource utilization, supply chain management, networking and new age branding and marketing. The ultimate goal is to spur the growth of the sector which is possible through skill development and self-reliance.”
The institute also conducts managerial training programmes for office bearers of consortium and local institutions for strengthening and sustaining the impact in the sector.
