Women weavers of the Kumaon

Panchachuli Women Weavers, the largest independent women’s cooperative in the state of Uttaranchal, has played a key role in changing the socio-economic dynamics of the local community. Women from over 32 villages in the hilly region of Almora are involved in the processing of raw materials and production of woven and knitted products. The women of the hilly region of Almora and its surrounds are financially independent and empowered, thanks to the efforts of Mukti Datta who harnessed their unique weaving skills and offered them an alternative livelihood. “Before we started working for Panchachuli, we were mainly involved in agricultural activities and selling milk. Then Datta collected the women in the villages and motivated them to join her weaving training. Initially there was some resistance from the men who didn’t like the idea of women learning something new. We too thought it was a waste of our time,” says 49-year-old Munni Mehta, one of the first women to be trained by Panchachuli. Mehta now says that joining Panchachuli turned out to be a life-changing decision for her and the other 750 women who run and manage Panchachuli Women Weavers. Panchachuli is a development programme that offers women alternative livelihoods. It has contributed to the structural development of the entire Kumaon region, with women from as many as 32 villages involved in the processing of raw materials and production of woven and knitted products. Panchachuli Women Weavers is the largest independent women’s cooperative in the state of Uttaranchal. The women are all shareholders in the company, and they receive regular wages. Set up by Jan Jagaran Samiti, Panchachuli Women Weavers is today a company under Section 25 (no profits to individuals, clear social objective) and is exclusively managed by women. It was during the course of their work in the remote villages beyond Munsiyari that members of Jan Jagaran Samiti came across women weaving pure pashmina shawls. It emerged that this region, Johar valley, once enjoyed close cultural and economic ties with Tibet. Trade with Tibet, through the Lipulekh Pass, was the source of fine wool from the Dropka and Chakpa tribes of western Tibet, which the women wove into shawls giving rise to a flourishing weaving tradition. The sealing of the pass, following the 1962 Indo-China hostilities, and the subsequent unavailability of raw material brought work to a standstill. And the women’s weaving skills gradually began to fade. “However, there were still some master weavers, and the first thing we did was to get them to train the other women. Later, the Samiti re-established trade relations with Tibet, resumed the supply of fine lena wool (the undercoat of the high-altitude goat) and organised the production of shawls,” says Datta. Jan Jagaran Samiti pulled away as soon as it felt Panchachuli was able to stand on its own feet. The Samiti manages a hospital, a leprosy rehabilitation centre and a school in the region. “We are able to educate our children today thanks to our work for Panchachuli. One can see the confidence with which these women now carry themselves. It is very evident in the way they talk and the clothes they wear. Initially, when we started, there were women who had never even seen a bus in their lives. Today these same women are earning Rs 2,400 every month, and a bonus during peak times,” says Munni Bisht, production manager at Panchachuli’s workshop near Almora. Panchachuli has five retail outlets in Uttaranchal. It also supplies The Oberoi, Aman Resorts, Umaid Bhavan and Ananda, and has an overseas market mainly in the US, Germany, Italy, UK and Belgium. The organisation receives a grant from the Danny Kaye and Sylvia Fine Kaye Foundation, which provided funds for the import of pashmina-processing machines from Scotland, building rooms for spinning and processing wool, stores for raw material and finished products, administrative offices, and four buses to transport the women to and from their villages to the production centre. What makes Panchachuli’s products unique is that the entire cycle of producing a shawl is managed by the women themselves, right from sourcing the raw material from Tibet, spinning, weaving, marketing and managing the retail outlets. “We use only 100% pure pashmina sourced from Tibet, which is hand-processed, spun and woven. I have a trade permit that allows me and a group of four-to-five women to trek every year across the Lipu Pass to Taklakot in Tibet to source wool (pashmina, sheep wool, etc) directly from the nomads in the Kailash Manasarover area. The journey takes around three weeks, including staying in tents and walking 350 km up and down the mountains. The wool is carried by mule and pony back to India. The trade routes are open from July to September and we go in August every year,” explains Datta. Panchachuli is officially recognised as a trader both by the Indian and Chinese governments that allow it access even to restricted areas. Speaking about her motivation to help these women, Datta says: “I started work with the rural women of this area to enable them to become independent and economically and socially empowered. The motivation also came as I was already involved in social work, and the plight of underprivileged women (heavy work loads, alcoholism among men, unproductive agriculture, etc) made me determined to do something for them.” Datta emphasises the change Panchachuli has brought in the women’s lives. “The women are now earning their own income and have improved their standard of living. They can afford to educate their children and, in many cases, are the sole breadwinners in the family. In fact, Panchachuli has become a status symbol for independent, skilled working women who are role models for other women in the region. Today, we have a waiting list of over 2,000 women who want to get training and join Panchachuli. Politically also the women have great strength; their votes determine victory or defeat for candidates in the Almora Vidhan Sabha constituency (the sitting MLA won his seat thanks to the women),” says Datta who is also credited with having starting the Binsar Sanctuary in the area. Contact: Panchachuli Women Weavers Papersali, Kasardevi Road, via NDT, Almora -263601, UP Phone: 05962-232310, 236817 ----------- SOURCE: Infochange News and Features

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