Promote the Indian Handlooms Protect the Art of Weaving, a great Indian Heritage Pooja Jyoti Eppanapally Founder, Save the Weavers Organization

Swaraj (self-rule) without Swadeshi (country made goods) is a lifeless corpse and if Swadeshi is the soul of Swaraj, Khadi is the essence of Swadeshi. Therefore Khadi became not only a symbol of revolution and resistance but part of an Indian identity. - Mahatma Gandhi

The current state of Indian weavers Indian weavers are unable to earn their living through their profession and committing suicides since there is no demand for their cloth and they are not able to compete with the textile mills. The weavers are unable earn to feed and educate their children. Some of the weavers are starving to death with no food to eat. Just in Andhra Pradesh alone over 120 people committed suicide in the last six months and over 1000 in the last four years. They are looking into alternate ways of survival, turning into beedi workers, coolies, foram workers. The Art of weaving, a great Indian heritage is dying rapidly.

Save the Weavers Organizations Ms. Pooja Jyoti Eppanapally, a 12th grade student from Livingston High School in New Jersey founded Save the Weavers organization to find a comprehensive solution to this problem. Launched a global signature campaign through internet to increase the awareness of the problems faced by Indian weavers and to submit a petition to the government of India to address their problems and protect the Art of Weaving, the great Indian heritage. Appointed several coordinators globally in each continent to increase the awareness and campaign for support from Governemnt and NGOs. Several NGOs joined hands to support this humanitarian cause to Save the Weavers.

The Save Weavers Petition to the government Generate initial demand by using the weavers’ cloth in some of the government establishments such as Schools, Hospitals, Railways and Military, and encourage the usage in private organizations by offering incentives. Provide low-interest loans to weavers to modernize their looms to effectively compete with the factories and meet the demand. Waive or extend the term of the existing loans to speed up the recovery time. Assist the weavers to establish research and development centers to enable them to improve the quality of material and designs to capture diverse groups of consumers in domestic and international markets. Provide support to establish sales and marketing channels to sell the cloth and garments produced by the weavers in domestic and international markets.

Meeting the Prime Minister Pooja Eppanapally met the Honorable Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in November of 2009 when he came for the first state dinner with President Barak Obama in Washington, DC. Discussed the plight of Indian weavers and the petition to save the weavers with the signatures collected globally. The government of India is looking into a special package of Rs.4500 Crores to address the weavers’ problem nationwide.

Meeting the Chief Minister Pooja met the Honorable Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Dr. K. Rosaiah and submitted the petition to Save the Weavers. Dr. K. Rosaiah admired Pooja’s global awareness campaign to save the weavers. He assured her the support from his government to address this issue. Dr. K. Rosaiah released Rs.320 crores this year to waive the loans of the weavers in Andhra Pradesh. Initiated a special package for Sircilla in Karimnagar district to save the weavers. Looking into extending the support to other parts of Andhra Pradesh.

Immediate plans to Save the Dubbaka Weavers – join hands Need support from NGOs and individuals to Save the Weavers. A Global Save Weavers committee is formed including people from India Supporting over 1000 weavers’ families in Dubbaka Medak area with the support from NGOs like SJM, TDF, POPA, Aatmeya Seva etc.., Providing ration to feed the starving weavers while waiting to receive the approved support from Government of Andhra Pradesh ordered by Human Rights Commission. Conducting health camps to screen for physical and mental well being and provide preventive medicines. Providing counseling to instill confidence in them to face the situation and stop the suicide deaths. Providing career counseling and required job training for educated youth to get proper employment. Providing proper guidance and support to encourage the children to attend schools and colleges.

Thank You!