Bhubaneswar : Shraddha, an NGO dedicated to promoting handloom and boosting weaver incomes, is soon going to establish a Specialised Weavers’ School in Odisha.
This institution will provide young children from weaver households with standard education (via open schooling), textile skills, and digital marketing training.
This proposal has been discussed in the Shraddha’s Annual General Body meeting, held here on Sunday.
Addressing the AGM, founder of the NGO, Dr. Sanjay Kumar Panda, who had served the Union Textile & Handloom Ministry as secretary, said that Sharddha has undertaken a successful women-weaver empowerment initiatives across Cuttack and Jagatsinghpur districts, backed by NABARD, HPRCL, and LIC. Key interventions—such as diversifying products from sarees to running yardage, introducing customer friendly light designs, and hosting innovative direct-to-consumer sales in high-end apartment complexes like Z1 Estate—have successfully increased weaver earnings by 50%, he added.
Dr. Panda said, “The initiative aims to nurture a new generation of entrepreneurs to elevate handloom to an aspirational level, contributing directly to a “Viksit Odisha.”Beyond economic empowerment, SHRADDHA continues to champion inclusive and sustainable development by supporting weaver families with healthcare, nutrition, preschool education, and plantation drives.”
The meeting saw active hybrid participation from key members B B Patnaik, Shyama Ch Padhy, Padmanava Panda, Dr Satyakam Mishra, Gen. Atanu Patnaik, Ms. Sukanti Meher, and Ms. Shivani Mohapatra.
The proceedings were conducted by Secretary Banshidhar Mohapatra, Dr Sudarshan Behera and Suvendu Tripathy.
