Baskets from carpet belt to hold Diwali gifts for corporate world

Varanasi, June 28 (UNI) Baskets crafted by women from the carpet belt of neighbouring Sant Ravidas Nagar (Bhadohi) district will be among a host of handicraft delights that will hold Diwali gifts for corporate world in Mumbai and Delhi.

Former Samata Party leader and president of Dastkari Haat Samiti (DHS) Jaya Jaitley told UNI here today that the outfit involved in the upliftment of rural artisans has joined hands with the ICICI Bank in Bhadohi, for a project that aims at marketing to the world, the ''unheralded creations of women of the carpet belt''.

''Ranging from evocative baskets, wall hangings, bottle holders to slippers and flower holders, there are many unheralded creations being made by women working in the carpet belt,'' Ms Jaitley added.

The Rs six lakh pilot project in the carpet belt will see the ICICI Bank finance the creativity of the women by either offering micro loans to individual artisan or by financing self-help groups to be created by the DHS, Ms Jaitley said.

Two workshops were recently held in Bhadohi, where works of 80 women were showcased. The target is to form self-help groups under the DHS, comprising at least 3,000 women, who will create a diverisified 50 ethnic products line, providing ''the scent of the soil''.

The project involves three stages, beginning from workshop to creation of self-help groups ensued by marketing of the products not only to corporate world, but also to hotels and big showrooms including fashion houses.

''The success of our effort could well open doors of export to unheralded handicraft products of women from carpet belt,'' Ms Jaitley said.

Two grand exhibitions are slated before Diwali in Mumbai and Delhi, where not only the creations of women from Bhadohi will be showcased, but videos narrating the painful but creative tale of impoverished women will also be hooked to the corporate world, she said.

In the city to attend a grand Panchayat of weavers this evening, Ms Jaitley said that the effort of DHS and ICICI Bank could go a long way in fetching the deserving monetary value of the unheralded creations, besides spurring the wave of women empowerment, especially at a time when women and children were being exploited by the carpet industry.

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