The Weaver’s Centre in the Burgula malkha centre are getting used to regular visitors. Being the closest malkha unit to Hyderabad, it inevitably gets a stream of them. Here L Kannan. The inventor of the Gramaspinner pre-spinning machines and head of of Fractal Foundation, Chennai, the technical collaborators of malkha explains the working of the machines to senior Government officials during their visit in early April.
About The Weaver’s Centre In Chennai :
The Weaver’s Centre design and execution of the much-touted National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) are likely to leave a lasting impact on some areas of our economy. Surely, the prototype version did not foresee that it would act as a catalyst for changes that otherwise required a strong political will, viz., mechanisation of agriculture.
Traditional skills, which for centuries, even in adverse circumstances, provided livelihood for millions of families, are being undervalued. For want of marketing skills resulting in poor sales, they may have bred underemployment, but unemployment and insecurity, they did not.
Attraction the Weaver’s Centre In Chennai :
Features the Weaver’s Centre In Chennai :
The weaving section has six looms. The saris woven here are prototypes to be used by the Co-optex and by primary cooperative societies. P. Thennarasu, Deputy Director (Weaving), explains how new technology is being introduced by the centre to lessen the burden of the weavers. The three wheel take-up motion helps to bring about uniformity in texture while the draw box motion helps in the weaving of checked fabric. “The constant use of a single leg in traditional weaving, imposes strain on the limb and so we have introduced the pneumatic compressor developed by local engineers,” he explains.
“The National Handloom Development Corporation will display innovations at their appropriate technology exhibitions.”
All the weavers at this centre are recruited from weaving families. “Twenty years ago, my father, siblings and I used to weave on the looms put up in front of the Mylapore Weaving Society ,” says V. Kuppammal.
Hamsaveni, Subbarammal and Lakshmi Bai are at work along with Kuppammal; they are turning out silk and cotton fabrics. Training in weaving is also imparted at the centre.