You can soon purchase silk thread jewellery designed and crafted by the Narikuravar community in and around the Kancheepuram region.
Under its Micro Enterprise Development Programme (MEDP), the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) will be handholding these Narikuravar’s and will train them on making silk thread jewellery from silk waste.
Vijay Neehar, District Development Manager, NABARD, told The Hindu that the reason for choosing the programme was that the market for the silk thread jewellery was growing and the raw material was abundantly available in the district. “Further, the Narikurva group has been into jewellery and ornament making for generations,” he said. He explained that the project was financially supported by NABARD and implemented by READS, an NGO, in collaboration with Tamil Nadu State Rural Livelihoods Mission (TNSRLM), Kancheepuram.
Kancheepuram Collector M. Aarthi said that 30 people from the Narikuravar community had been trained to make these silk jewellery. She said the Narikuravar’s were creative and a formal training along with enhancing their skills would help their products reach a wider audience. “After the training, the quality of their products have improved and we now want to help them make good profits for their work.”
Ms. Aarthi said a shop had been allotted to SHG cluster of Narikuruva group by the district administration near the Sriperumbudur bus stand exclusively for marketing its produce. “If they do well, we can even help them with funding to market their products. We will help them on the branding part too,” she said. She highlighted that Kancheepuram district had been allocated ₹2.56 crore for construction of Common Facility Centre and purchase of machinery through District Industries Centre for manufacturing of raw material pertaining to beads and ornament making.
