Human Welfare Association, A Varanasi based NGO with the support of Find Your Feet – India, is intensively intervening for empowering marginalized weavers through project Tana-Bana for the last five years. At this moment the organization has facilitated to establish a community based organization of weavers as BBS that has been registered as society last year.

This Association is a federation of 96 self help groups (1307 weavers families) with own executive board and official set ups. Now we are doing our concerted efforts to strengthen the forward and backward linkages (marketing and production) of the Association. Now, the focus is on sustainability of the weaver’s association. The strategy adopted is systematic capacity building of the representatives of the Association and step by step handing over the responsibility for association’s operations.

The executive board members and other representatives have taken the responsibility of monitoring of saving /credit groups on routine basis, visiting groups for planning of income generating activities, scrutinizing & sanctioning of revolving fund requests, monitoring the weaving works provided by BBS and quality control of finished goods. Similarly the office bearers of association visit BBS office and showroom regularly to monitor the day by day activities. Bank accounts are operated by themselves and all the transactions related to revolving fund and capital loan are regulated by them. BBS actively participate in planning and execution of the project activities. Exposure visits & participation in outstation training programs are facilitating the process of their capacity building.

On the other end, the organization has raised the issues of handloom weavers at various national and international forums and sensitized various communities for the issues. The organization has done concerted efforts for sensitizing government of India for framing policies for uplifting the declining handloom sector. These advocacy efforts played vital role in drawing the attention of government, civil society groups, media, political parties, trade unions and several other organization towards the starving situations of handloom sector in Varanasi. Now the BBS jointly with HWA time to time shake up the government machinery through rallies, protest march & other non violent direct actions for survival of the handloom industry.

The registration of Banarasi Sari and brocade under Geographical Indication has been accelerated by BBS and HWA with the technical guidance and support of Textile Committee, ministry of textiles, government of India. The application process is at the final stages and hopefully it would be registered soon. Announcement of handloom mark scheme by Prime Minister of India has given a great ray of hope to grass root handloom weavers. It would create a regulatory legal check on those who cheat consumers by selling power loom products on the name of handloom. The organization had played important role for pressurizing the government for such announcements. Now, together with textile committee, the organization is sensitizing and making aware the weavers for the benefits of the scheme.