Handlooms get support from techies in Telangana

Techies are among the top buyers of handloom products with several IT companies endorsing handloom products by organising exhibitions on their premises

Hyderabad: Techies sync with modern gadgets and new technologies. That is the image they have. While keeping that intact, they are also now resonating with traditional craft like handlooms in an attempt to reconnect to their roots. They are among the top buyers of handloom products with several IT companies endorsing handloom products by organising exhibitions on their premises.

“Many teams have been sporting handlooms on Mondays. Even though the IT offices are seeing reduced manpower due to the work-from-home in place, there are plans to conduct some handloom melas soon in select IT parks to encourage handloom sector,” said Mathala Satyanarayana, president of Telangana Facilities Management Council (TFMC), the industry body for facilities management companies.

TFMC has about 400 players operating in the city. These facility managers are responsible for building maintenance, health and safety standards, space management, communications infrastructure, renovations and refurbishments in various companies in IT and other sectors.

“We have been conducting annual melas. So far, the sales from these melas have been nearly Rs 2 crore. Due to Covid last year, the sales got affected. However, we promoted usage of handloom masks. With offices coming to back to life partially, we plan to push other handloom products once again,” he told Telangana Today.

According to Devireddy Siva, founder of Gocoop, an e-commerce platform for handloom products, there is an increasing patronage for handloom products from the young generation. They are seeing them as a way to contribute to the society.

“More people are realising that local arts and crafts have to be supported. The trend is sharper after the Covid when many businesses have shut or have been under lockdown restrictions. The youth are conscientiously taking it as their responsibility to support sectors like handlooms,” he said.

Gocoop also conducts offline exhibitions regularly to promote handlooms. However, the number of such physical events has come down due to the Covid related restrictions over last two years. That, however, is compensated by the near three-fold increase in online sales, he said.

“The young generation does not haggle much. They pay if they see value in the product and believe that each purchase will support some artisans,” he said.

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