National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Gandhinagar will organise an exhibition of handicrafts made by the women of the Siddi community. These women hail from Hadmatiya in Junagadh district.

NIFTians trained these tribal women in handmade products for four months. According to project coordinator and associate professor, Panchami Mistry, "This was the first time that we were working with women of this tribe. Although these women were educated, they were home bound and hence wanted to earn more money for their family. These products will be sold under the brand name 'Siddi Tribes' as souvenirs to tourists visiting the Gir Forest and Somnath Temple."

Mistry further added, "To help these women buy textile machinery from the market, NIFT will provide them with certificates, which will help the women get loans for the equipment." Besides Mistry and Jain, Prakash Darji, Meghal Darji, Poonam Darji and NIFT director, Sameeta Rajora were involved in training the tribe for four months.

According to student Vama Jain who was involved in this scheme, "We were working for the uplift of the Siddi women. Since they were already good at making handicrafts, we decided to go ahead with the same. We provided them with a basic sketching kit and design tools and asked them to draw anything they saw around them."

The women were trained in handicrafts, which include bags, purses, clutches and jewellery. "We started by rolling paper and then asked the women to make dummy products of these rolled papers. We were surprised by their design ideas that included simple baskets, clutches, pen stands among others. After this, we provided them with muslin cloth to incorporate similar ideas so that they get hands-on experience in stitching and embroidery.

The final products created by them were brilliant", explained Mistry.
Jain added, "However, their creative ideas did not end here. In order to market the products and create a name for their community around the globe, these women have created mini dolls that resemble women and children of their tribe. These mini dolls, are the mascots of their community."