Dastkar Andhra

Dastkar Andhra began in 1988 as an offshoot of Dastkar, Delhi. It is a non-profit trust, registered in 1995 that works within Andhra Pradesh to promote the interests of the producer communities within the cotton handloom weaving industry. The objective of Dastkar Andhra has been “to explore practically, the possibilities of craft production as a contemporary economic activity based on traditional skills and resources, and to develop forms of organization that would ensure wide dispersal of economic returns among the producers”.

In its early stages, Dastkar Andhra developed new products and provided marketing assistance for artisan communities producing a variety of craft products. It then took up extensive work with three craft communities: the carpet weavers of Eluru, West Godavari; the Kalamkari printers of Kalahasti, Chittoor and the cotton weavers of Chinnur, Adilabad. In 1989, it worked towards providing a model for research and consultancy for craft-based industry that would function under the direction of practitioners themselves. From 1996 the emphasis of Dastkar Andhra’s activities shifted from working intensively with few craft groups to involvement with cotton handloom producers, since when Dastkar Andhra has focused on the various aspects and issues facing the household cotton textile production industry of Andhra Pradesh.  

Dastkar Andhra areas of interest are:

• Marketing
  The immediate aim was to market good quality, medium-priced fabrics in the large-volume medium counts for every-day wear and household use, to service the middle class urban segment who wanted handloom fabrics and could not get them, addressing the availability aspect. This would serve the dual purpose of combating the prevailing myth that handlooms were suited only for the upper-income niche market and help create an environment for establishing rational and transparent systems for the production-marketing chain. Thus, enabling the producers themselves to participate in the marketing process. The producer base that would be developed for this market would ensure support for the next, more difficult step in the marketing research, selling to the large lower-income urban sector, where the competition from powerloom cloth and from synthetic fabrics would be fierce.

In 1999-00 Dastkar Andhra took up production with a small number of looms in a few co-operatives ready to co-operate in accepting regular delivery schedules and quality specifications. This number has increased from 26 in 1999-00 to around 110 in the current financial year.

Dastkar Andhra’s explorations in new marketing mechanisms appropriate to the specific nature of large scale cotton textile production has resulted in initiatives such as household marketing undertaken by housewives and intensive lower income group marketing through exhibitions, advertisement and advocacy to capture the market of low income groups.  The four ways of marketing include:

• Retailer Servicing
  Today, the volume of retailer servicing stands at around Rs. 44 lakhs that is almost 66% of total sales.
  

• Household Marketing
  The intention is to set up an alternative market system through which cotton handloom products of good quality and design could reach customers without high overheads of commercial marketing system. Hence, Gautami takes stock from Dastkar Andhra at 2.5% mark up and sell both directly and through other marketing agents, mostly housewives, teachers, and others. The current volume of sales is around 12 lakhs. 
  

• Exhibitions
  Exhibitions form around 20% of the total sales.
  

• Lower Income Group (LIG) Marketing
  This aims at breaking the myth amongst the group with incomes of less than Rs.5000 that cotton handloom products are beyond their budgetary capacities and unsuited to their way of life. The main item is low count sarees, printed and plain, from Rs.130 onwards. Experimental exhibitions have been held urban and suburban areas, and market surveys are regularly conducted to assess peoples’ perceptions of cotton handlooms. 
  
  The annual sales figures of Dastkar Andhra in 1994-95 were Rs. 7,43,461.55 and today, 2001-02, it is Rs. 66,34,664.05. Initially, the sales figures consisted exclusively of exhibitions, but since 1997-98 it includes sales to Gautami, retailing and as of 2001-02, also, lower income group marketing.  

• Design
  The aim is to re-establish the link between the weaver and the designs woven that were influenced by the natural resource base, cultural background and aesthetics. Dastkar Andhra introduced a range of soft colours that increased variety and reduced the tendency towards stridency. The design studio of Dastkar Andhra, is under the guidance of Latha Tummuru, an NID graduate.
  

• Production
  The major co-operatives associated with Dastkar Andhra are – Rajavolu, Isukapally, Koyyalagudem, Chirala (motorized charkhas), Pasalapudi (natural dyed), Pulugartha, Angara, Ponduru (natural dyed goods made of moga khadi yarn and using the tri shuttle loom), Tadipatri and the Independent Weaver Groups at Chinnur (indigo dyed), Repalle and Kappaladoddi. The main range of products include dress materials – plain, checks, stripes, ikkat; khadi  – sarees, dress materials, dupattas; bed sheets, table cloth, napkins, household linen and kora plain fabric for kalamkari prints.
  

• Training and research in natural dyeing
  The intention is to re-establish the linkages that alienated the primary producer from his resources. Hence, activities undertaken are training of artisans and resource people; technical experimentation and research; and the growing of dye bearing plants.
  
  The Dastkar Andhra team learnt the techniques of natural dyeing and of training in workshops for artisans conducted by Shri K V Chandramouli. It also concentrated on creating appropriate training methods, and documentation procedures and processes. During this period, Dastkar Andhra trained the groups with whom it was actively involved, the Eluru Tivasi Sangam (carpet weavers) and Chinnur Cheneta Kala Sangam (cotton handloom weavers) as well as others from different parts of the country and from Uzbekistan.  As a result of this sustained activity, natural dyeing is now securely established in about 10 centres. In Andhra, co-operatives in four districts are now regularly producing natural dyed products.
  
  Archival research led to the manuscripts being computerized and publication of a small booklet on natural dyeing brought out by PPST in collaboration with Dastkar Andhra in the four south Indian languages – Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil and Kannada. With the association of Shri Kattubadi Yellappa of Uravakonda a traditional indigo vat was set up in Chinnur and the Uravakonda vat revived.
  

• Research into cotton cultivation and cotton yarn
  Historical and technical research on the nature and qualities of cotton plant and the historical development of the mechanized spinning process. Recently, the PPST Foundation of Chennai, have taken up a project to develop small scale pre-spinning machinery for which Dastkar Andhra has established field linkages in Chirala by the introduction of hand spinning and its integration with weaving.
  

• Decentralized Spinning
  The study into technology of textile production led to exploration of the changes that cotton yarn spinning has undergone over centuries. Today, the cotton farmer has no alternative except to sell to ginning mills who sell it to big spinning or composite mills. Thus varieties of cotton grown are now suited to commercial purposes. This massive scale operation of spinning has put yarn spinning out of reach for small producers and has left the handloom weavers at the mercy of the spinning mills. Dastkar Andhra and PPST is working on the development of pre-spinning machinery that would make it possible to produce slivers to be spun into yarn on motorized household spinning machines. The new machines will also gin and card the cotton on small scale in villages near cotton field. Thus, linkages between each stage – supplier of raw cotton, sliver maker, the spinner and the weaver will be re-established. 
  

• Advocacy groups
  Dastkar Andhra also deals with the political aspects of the cotton handloom industry through research on policy and advocacy. For instance, Dastkar Andhra was instrumental in helping weavers procure a copy of the Satyam Committee recommendations to the Central Government on handloom policy of 1999 [not made public till tabled in Parliament the following year] against which weaver organizations organized sustained agitations, ultimately resulting in the scrapping of the recommendations. In 2000 Dastkar Andhra was commissioned by the Planning Commission to take up a study on ‘Growth and Prospects of the Handloom Industry’. In connection with the study, a national level seminar was held in September 2001 at Hyderabad and was attended both by academicians and weaver activists.