Priyanka Praminik was running a computer center in Islampur, West Bengal, when the Digital Empowerment Foundation’s district coordinator approached Priyanka to help rural women entrepreneurs learn digital skills.
Bengal’s silk saree weavers have earned national acclaim for their Gorod, Korial, and Baluchari sarees, which have elaborate borders and intricate cultural motifs. Artisans travel to exhibitions and trade fairs across India to sell their hand-woven creations.
For Priyanka, a digitally savvy young woman with strong village networks, becoming a SoochnaPreneur Business Mitra (SBM) was natural next step. She is equipping rural women artisans to thrive online by:
- helping them navigate e-governance platforms;
- supporting their applications for trade/craft licenses, subsidies and grants;
- guiding them through online banking and loan applications;
- supporting UPI and mobile wallet adoption to broaden their customer base;
The hundred rural women entrepreneurs (RWEs) Priyanka supports are master weavers, but many are older and struggle with online promotion, communication and sales.
Ancient Crafts Meet Modern eCommerce
The Udhyamini initiative, working with 200 SBMs like Priyanka in West Bengal and Assam, might have launched at a pivotal moment for India’s crafts sector. Employing nearly 20 million and supporting 200 million more, the sector faces a crisis as older artisans age out and younger people abandon handlooms and heritage.
While intricately woven silk sarees can be found in specialty shops and state exhibitions, now they’re also finding new life online. The younger generation — children of sweavers who once avoided aquiring skills — have begun marketing their families’ work on social media, modeling and promoting handwoven sarees on Instagram and Facebook.
In digital marketing sessions, Priyanka finds mothers send daughters to attend in their place. Inspired by social media influencers, daughters are eager to learn. Priyanka seizes these opportunities, training young RWEs to leverage online platforms — to market the sarees online, connect directly with buyers, and secure higher margins through videos, photos and storytelling to showcase collections.
This partnership may herald a new beginning. With tech-savvy youth supporting them, older artisans may reach audiences that value authenticity and heritage. With time, these young influencers, themselves, might move beyond content creation and into craft creation sphere. And with time, daughters who once modeled their mothers’ sarees online may pick up the loom, becoming the next generation of master artisans.
The tools — social platforms, global markets, and rising demand for artisanal products — are in place. The challenge is bridging hashtags and heritage, ensuring future generations value and sustain traditional skills that define regions like Islampur.
