Colourful handmade Phulkari Dupattas and intricately crafted Juttis of Patiala are much sought after in the country. The local talents in this district of Punjab are quite skillful and creative and are mostly women from remote rural areas. To help them, the district administration has now started an umbrella brand by the name of Pankhari, which is catering as a market place where all the products made by the women SHGs are sold.
The initiative, which has been taken under the direction of DC Patiala, Sakshi Sawhney, is helping the women from the SHGs to become more professional, and, thereby, empowered.
DIFFICULTIES IN SELLING
The women of Patiala, apart from making handicrafts, are also engaged in occupations like animal husbandry, agriculture, and household or domestic labour. Mainly of low-income stature, they make their ends meet by getting involved in making dupattas or juttis in a group.
While speaking to Indian Masterminds, IAS officer Sakshi Sawhney said, “If we take an example of a lady who is involved with her group of family or friends in the same enterprise, to sell a product like Phulkari Dupatta which took her almost 20 days to handmake, she will have to visit an urban area market. In this, the money she gets from selling the product will be not more than the actual cost of making it or it will give her minor profits. It is because of the expenditure that women fear to sell it in the urban market.”
Challenges like this are basic to women SHGs selling handicraft products, or any other for that matter. The product is bought from them at a cheaper price and is resold by businessmen at a higher price, hence making the profit low for the SHG women.
Along with ADC Development, Isha Singhal, DC Sawhney wanted to solve this marketing challenge the women were facing in Patiala, and hence, brand Pankhari was launched.
Isha Singhal, ADC (Development), Patiala, told Indian Masterminds, “We had procured products from women SHGs all over the district. The SHGs of Pattran, the remotest sub-division of Patiala, are mostly engaged in decor products and have come up to sell these through us. Similarly, jute bags are made by SHGs in Rajpura district. However, these women SHGs did not want to roam around marketing the products, rather they wanted someone to collect it from their home. To cater to this market challenge we wanted to open a one-stop shop centre where all these products can be sold.”
PANKHARI STORE
Pankhari was planned to serve as an umbrella store for all the local brands run by women SHGs, where products like handicrafts, organic farm products and other agro-based food products can be sold.
Ms. Sawhney said, “We wanted to create a brand where these SHG women can list their products for free, and through combined marketing of the administration and the producers, the products can be sold in and outside the district of Patiala. We are also coming up with a social media account of the brand and an e-commerce website so that people outside Patiala can also check out the fine products and buy them.”
Through this initiative, the producers or the SHG women are now being able to market their products in a professional way and are also being able to respond to marketing needs promptly. For example, with winter descending, they are coming up with a separate winter collection of clothes for children and women. Local people also seem to be gladly responding to it as more demand is being seen.
FUTURE TYCOONS
In another step to promote entrepreneurship in Patiala, the district administration started a competition among the local entrepreneurs and a winning seed capital of Rs 50,000 was kept for the winner. Mr. Sawhney said, “We kept the format of the competition like that of the popular show, Shark Tank, wherein the entrepreneurs have to prepare a presentation before a panel of jury and the jury will decide whether they want to invest in that particular startup or not. We have kept a special category for women SHGs and for people with disabilities.”
This project worked wonders as the women who were earlier shy of presenting their ideas were confident enough to stand in front of the jury and discuss in detail about their project. Also, the mentorship that they received during this process will help them to better their business prospects in the future.
THE WAY AHEAD
The administration is now influencing the women of Patiala to catch in on the new market trends and make products according to the market needs. For example, if the market demands for sustainable products, the SHGs should work on making products made out of single use plastic, and the administration would train them for that.
Ever since the store opened, the sales have been very encouraging. As it opened during the festival time, a lot of rush was seen that time and the products made by the SHG women on display created a huge demand.
An online store is also coming up next and the women are now planning to model their products with an eye on the future, aiming at giving a more professional look to them.
