Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (SP)

Udupi, Mar 2: Koraga community, who are the aborigines of coastal Karnataka, has been mainly dependent on sale of baskets, plates, stands, scuttles, etc they make by using things available in nature, have now got the touch of modernity. They have got tags and QR codes and the digital revolution is sure to benefit the Koraga community members.

Under a campaign undertaken by Udupi zilla panchayat, the cottage industry of the Koraga community is planned for upliftment under the Sanjeevini scheme. The community members henceforth will be able to get good prices for their workmanship and efforts are on to market the products through Amazon, Flipkart etc.

Just scanning of the QR code will unfurl the scenes of making of the baskets, plates etc. The people will be able to understand the skill and effort that goes into this family profession and also observe the hard work that goes into making these products.

The Koraga community is among those tribal communities that are on the wane and facing the danger of becoming extinct. Their number stood at 11,300 as per the 2011 census. Lack of education, hesitation, shortage of proper encouragement, ill health due to addictions, unemployment, untouchability etc have come in the way of their progress when the country is celebrating 75th year of its independence.

Udupi zilla panchayat chief executive officer, Dr Naveen Bhat Y, has planned to give a boost to their products through modern technology. 75 Koraga women belonging to the families from Guddeyangadi, Kavadi, Maravanthe, Navunda, Barkur, Pamboor etc exhibited their skills through an exhibition of products made by them. These families have been using thin strips of bamboo trees, vines, stems of plants etc to make various products. Sundara Koraga working in Kuthpady SDM College makes beautiful pedestal lamps, chariot, and boat from these things. The district administration wants to bring happiness in these families by using modern technology, inventions, bringing modernity, digitalization and branding. Zilla panchayat chief executive officer Dr Naveen Bhat Y, wants to see that the talent and skills of the
Koraga community should be made known to the outer world. They should be given training, and by branding, tagging, QR code etc their products should be given more opportunities to enable the families to achieve progress in lire, he asserts.