Impact
Pan-India5 min read

Women Who Weave Economies

Self-help groups across India are turning craft into income, one cooperative loom at a time. The numbers may surprise you.

Women Who Weave Economies

Roughly two-thirds of India’s artisan workforce is female, and craft is often the only independent income available to women in rural households. Self-help groups (SHGs) have changed the arithmetic: training, pooled buying of raw materials, microcredit, and direct-to-consumer channels mean the craftswoman now earns a share of the retail price rather than a pittance from a middleman.

Studies of craft SHGs report income gains of 40–60% within two years of formalization, alongside harder-to-measure gains in confidence, social standing, and daughters’ schooling.

When you purchase hand-embroidered cloth or hand-woven textiles from Viraasat, you are buying into that loop — where heritage is simultaneously a culture and a balance sheet.

Stories like this are only possible when craft is valued — by you.

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