Blending art and style, the brand “Eri Weave – Hand Woven Silk by Women of Meghalaya”, offering hand woven eri silk products, was launched today by George Lyngdoh MLA at the Prime Startup Hub here.
Founded by Iaishah Rymbai, one of the top 50 entrepreneurs of PRIME Cohort 2.0, Eri Weave is all about putting forward handspun eri silk yarn and hand-woven fabric.
Speaking on the occasion, Lyngdoh celebrated the tenacious spirit of Rymbai in ensuring that her dreams became a reality and said that Eri Weave speaks about our women, our culture, identity, our land and our dreams.
Rymbai started her cooperative movement with five members. The MLA referred to her and the success story of milk farmers of Umroi in stressing on how supporting entrepreneurs and identifying leadership can have a positive impact on livelihoods, engage youth and channelize their entrepreneurial abilities.
Addressing the gathering, Commissioner and Secretary Frederick Kharkongor spoke about the state government’s initiative in reviving the brand “Ryndia” and informed that with the inclusion of weaving, in addition to sericulture and rearing under the Silk Samagra 2 Scheme, more weaving clusters will be developed in the state.
He also informed that the Design Innovation Resource Centre in Diwon, which aims to give visitors the complete ‘farm to fibre and fibre to fabric’ experience will soon be inaugurated. He further urged all weavers to leverage on the organic process involved in producing eri, which not only helps in preserving the environment but also in preserving an inherent part of our heritage.
Chairman of the Farmers’ Welfare Commission, KN Kumar, lamented the fact that out of 2,000-plus cooperative societies in the state only 1,740 are functional and most of which fall under the C Grade. While most cooperative societies are desperately in need of support, Kumar cited the example of Gujarat and Maharashtra where cooperatives have proven to be the engines of growth and stressed on the need for a more proactive role in the part of the government to strengthen the cooperative sector.
Rymbai, meanwhile, shared the story of her journey and informed that she started her cooperative movement “Kamai haba Shongkai” with the help of five women who travelled from village to village to spread awareness about eri silk spinning and handloom weaving. Today the cooperative society has 100 members with a monthly revenue of Rs 2 lakh.
