Bengaluru: Technology can go a long way in helping others. 

A group of engineers stand testimony to it. 

Weavers of Ponduru fine khadi were a distressed lot, unable to market their products. 

That is when this group of engineers, from Srikakulam district, who had gone there to produce a documentary on them decided to lend a helping hand. 

They were so touched by the difficulties these weavers faced that they decided to start an online platform to help them out in their business. 
It is distressing to note that these weavers earned not more than Rs 200 per day. 

The engineers are Pogiri Jawanth Naidu, Suraj Potnuru, Sailendra and Bharadwaj who started a website and even invited a few customers. 

“We decided to create an online marketing platform after seeing the dire conditions of the Khadi workers at Ponduru,” said Jaswanth Naidu, as quoted by The New Indian Express. 

Such was the plight of these weavers that many of their children migrated to other cities in search of jobs as they were not earning well in the Khadi business. 

“We have involved about 200 selected customers from across the country on the website. They buy cloth worth Rs 10,000 per year. About 50 weavers sell their produce on the website, and we are motivating them to design clothes that meet the demands of youngsters,” Naidu added further. 

This product has a lot of international demand. But all thanks to the middlemen, the profits might be hampered. It is precisely this reason why the website was created. 

“We act as facilitators between the khadi workers and customers without expecting any profit. In the international market, middlemen make huge profits by marketing Ponduru khadi. We created the website to eliminate middlemen,” he further added. 

These engineers have now decided to start a mobile app to improve the business further.