The Women’s Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (WICCI) launched the Andhra Pradesh Handloom Council in Visakhapatnam in a grand way. Held on 4 August at Waltair Club, the event saw many distinguished guests come together. These included Chief Guest, Parijata Satpathy, W/o DRM, Waltair Division of Railways; Guest of Honour, Sakina Ansari, President, National Handloom Council WICCI; Guest Speaker, Rupal Joshi, President, Madhya Pradesh Handloom Council; and Jeeja Valsraj, National Handloom Council Member. WICCI Founder, Harbeen Arora Rani, joined the event virtually.
After the ceremonious lighting of the lamp, all esteemed guests shared valuable inputs. Arora congratulated the new team and emphasised the importance of everyone working together as soul sisters. Ansari highlighted the importance of integrating handloom and craft education into the school curriculum. Rupal showcased a few weaves of Madhya Pradesh and mentioned the importance of spending time in villages to know and learn its importance. Parijata spoke about the emotional connection all have with saris and how all women take pride in these beautiful drapes.
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The event in Visakhapatnam brought forth the first WICCI team in Andhra Pradesh with Shilpa Dantu announced as the President for Andhra Pradesh Handloom Council. She is the Founder & Editor of Yo Vizag, Co-Founder of IdeaFirst, and Founder of Gulab Tribe. Surekha Patnaik was announced as the Vice President. The entire team launched the WICCI logo together. The guests felicitated Korukonda Sarojini, an experienced Ponduru Khadi weaver and recipient of the national award in 2016. On 5 August, key members of the team also visited Ponduru village.
WICCI is a premier national business council for women, as it boosts and builds women’s entrepreneurship through greater engagement with the government, global trade and networks. This launch in Andhra Pradesh marks an important milestone as it resonates with the vision of the Indian Government to develop a strong, sustainable and vibrant handloom sector.
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