Handloom weaving is an important cottage industry in Assam that has been flourishing since the 10th century AD as can be seen in the Kalika Purana and Harshacharita which depict that fine cotton garments were used even then. It still occupies a place of pride in every Assamese household which invariably maintains a handloom besides other articles for spinning and weaving. The process of weaving constitutes interlacement of 2 sets of thread viz., warp and weft (dighand bani). As many as 12 types of loom are used in the region which may be broadly grouped under these categories: Throw shuttle loom, Fly shuttle loom, Pit loom, Tribal Loom (waist loom) etc.
Traditionally Assamese women have been weaving attractive designs, especially on silk and cotton yarn. Yet, markets in the state have been flooded with synthetic yarn, popularly known as Thailand yarn. This has posed as a health hazard to many. In a bid to encourage cotton weaves NEN started a small weaving project co-ordinated by Narmohan Das and Kalpana in few villages of Assam. The idea was also to preserve the traditional designs and diversify products to increase their visibility. So, NEN started giving yarn to the women in the villages who transformed it into beautiful products which NEN took to the world outside their villages. The weavers in return got wages and also received trainings on group management, accounts keeping, savings, production planning, quality control as well as training on health especially women’s reproductive health and gender issues.
When women come together to weave, they discuss their problems. They also started talking of health, gender and rights. Thus, NEN's Livelihoods programme is more than income generation. It's about touching individuals and their potentials. It's also about transforming young women into agents of change.
In 1998, the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation funded NEN for a period of three years between 1998 and 2001, to start its handloom activities in the areas of (a) Kaziranga in Golaghat district (b) Dharikathi in Sonitpur district (c) Jharobari in Kamrup district of Assam.
In Kaziranga the weavers got together to form their own Self-Help-Group (SHG) called the Jonaki Mahila Samiti and with their savings were able to open their own shop/outlet of their finished products in Kohora, Kaziranga.
It is worth mentioning that the two weavers, Narmohan Das and Kalpana Devi, have met with commercial success after having worked with NEN on this project. In fact the former weaver from Jharobari is now an exporter of silk stoles to various European countries.
In 2003 with the help of AID, NEN continued its weaving programme for the next two years in (a) Dharikati in Sonitpur district (b) Mirza, Jharobari and Polasbari, in Kamrup the district of Assam. In Dharikati the weavers have formed their own registered society and are independently carrying out its own work. In Polasbari the weavers have got together with the Mahila Samiti members there and formed a self help group and have achieved considerable economic independence.
Our past accomplishments therefore lie in creating economically sustainable ventures and also creating greater awareness among the weavers on empowerment issues such as women’s reproductive health rights, gender and livelihood issues.
Presently NEN is working in the fields of Jharobari and Mirza with over 70 weavers and we are attempting to diversify our products which range from fabrics, mekhala sadors, stoles, mufflers to a variety of lifestyle products. Our handicraft products come from our areas of work in Meghalaya –mainly Cherrapunjee and Ri-bhoi district, Nagaland – mainly Chizami in Phek district and Manipur. The products are mainly crafted out of cane and bamboo and wood. We are also looking at jewellery made out of locally grown materials.
Through our handloom and handicrafts project we hope to create the following:
