Textiles Ministry signed MoU with Flipkart to provide marketing platform to handloom weavers

Union Textiles Ministry on 25 August 2014 signed MoU with Flipkart to provide online marketing platform to handloom weavers. The MoU was signed in New Delhi to boost the sector and empower the weavers and boost manufacturing in the country. Flipkart is a leading online market service provider.

As per the MoU, the Flipkart would provide online marketing platform, infrastructural support in data analytics and customer acquisition to help weavers to get remunerative prices for their products and scale up their business.

Apart from this, periodic review of the sales and progress of the weavers in the targeted clusters will also be carried out.

Overall, this facility will also provide online marketplace for sale of products of the weavers/master craftsmen/national awardees/state level awardees and the others as advised by Development Commissioner for Handlooms. The MoU means that now weavers would sell their products under their brand name and slowly evolve as an entrepreneur by selling his products directly to the buyers across India.
• Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Textiles - Santosh Kumar Gangwar

With this MoU, the weavers would get a chance to connect with the buyers across the country under Flipkart's ABHIYAAN Flipkart – Kaarigar ke dwar. This will also help arrest this dying art and change the face of rural India. This ABHIYAAN Flipkart – Kaarigar ke dwar initiative will help rural weavers earn suitable remuneration for their products without having to step out of their homes.

Thus, this initiative would also motivate the children of weavers to learn and continue the art and stay back in the rural areas instead of migrating to the urban areas for jobs, thereby keeping alive the rich tradition of Indian art.

Earlier in August 2014, Flipkart also signed MoU with the Ministry of Labour and Employment's Directorate General of Employment & Training (DGET). The MoU was signed with an aim to train at least 5000 students from semi-urban and rural areas and possibly employ them at the company or its business partners by December 2014.