Uzramma

Uzramma has been associated with the indigenous cotton textile industry of India since 1989. She founded a not-for-profit research consultancy for the industry, Dastkar Andhra, in 1990, from which she retired in 2005. During her tenure Dastkar Andhra was active in working with cotton handloom weaver co-operatives to develop systems for linking artisanal textile production to the market, and in research and training in natural dyeing. Dastkar Andhra has trained artisan groups all over India and in 5 Central Asian countries in the techniques of natural dyeing of different materials.
In 2005 Uzramma founded the Decentralized Cotton Yarn Trust to make cotton yarn on a small scale at field locations specifically for hand weaving, in order to make the entire process of cotton-to-cloth a rural production chain. The eventual objective is to put production in the hands of producer cooperatives. The product is a hand woven cotton fabric named ‘Malkha’ with improved lustre, absorbency and durability.

Uzramma has been a member of policy groups for the handloom industry constituted by the Planning Commission and the Prime Minister’s Office of the Government of India.

She has participated in seminars, given lectures & published papers and articles on cotton handloom weaving and natural dyeing. A book, A Frayed History: The Journey of Cotton in India, co-authored with Meena Menon, is published by Oxford University Press.

Uzramma is a practicing goldsmith trained under the contemporary British jeweller Catherine Mannheim and at the City of London Polytechnic, London.

She currently holds the position of Director in both the Decentralised Cotton Yarn Trust and the Malkha Marketing Trust.