CRAFTING GROWTH TOGETHER

The Office of Development Commissioner for Handicrafts, under the Ministry of Textiles, is on a mission mode to bring about resurgence in the handicrafts sector while empowering artisans across the country

Playing a momentous role in India’s economy, the handicrafts sector provides employment to a vast segment of craftspersons in rural & semi urban areas and generates substantial foreign exchange by way of exports for the country, while preserving its cultural heritage. The sector supports not only the existing set of millions of artisans spread over the length & breadth of the country, but also the increasingly large number of new entrants in the crafts activity. The significance of handicrafts also lies in the use of environment-friendly zero-waste practices in their production.

But the sector has also its share of problems such as low capital, inadequate exposure to new technologies, and absence of market intelligence faced by artisans. Removing all such bottlenecks, the Ministry of Textiles has catapulted the sector to a fast trajectory of product development, domestic sales and exports. It has managed to reposition handicrafts through aggregation, financial support and market access, in response to PM Modi’s clarion call for ‘Local Goes Global: Make in India for the World’.

In sync with the priorities and thrust of the Ministry of Textiles, the office of Development Commissioner (DC) -Handicrafts has implemented various schemes for the further growth of handicrafts sector under National Handicrafts Development Programme (NHDP) and Comprehensive Handicrafts Cluster Development Scheme (CHCDS). The NHDP has adopted a holistic, pro-active, technology driven

and sustainable development approach to make handicrafts sector viable. At the same time, CHCDS has done well to develop artisans’ concentrated areas through mega clusters and special projects across the country. These areas have turned out to be highly productive centres for products, increase in production of cluster artisians, thereby substantially contributing to the export of handicrafts.

With the objective to maximize the potential of handicrafts, DC (Handicrafts) has taken up a number of other initiatives, which are as follows:

Relating Textiles to Tourism

To achieve simultaneous promotion of crafts and tourism, Crafts Tourism Villages have been developed where artisans live and work with immense opportunity to sell products thereby ensuring their livelihoods. The villages comprise areas that are surrounded and connected by major tourist destinations/circuit and have a traditional art and craft heritage that attracts tourists and design innovators. All this helps in sales of their handicrafts products at work place.

Creation of Producer Companies

The Ministry has set up a network of producer companies supported by access to finance and markets. So far, 56 producer companies have been formed throughout the country to bring in professionalisation of artisian in the handicrafts sector.

Providing Direct Market Access to Weavers/ Artisans

Government e-Market Place (GeM) has initiated a process to onboarding weavers/artisans to make them sell their products directly to the ministries/ government departments. Artisan may register themselves by using their identity cards issued by the office of

DC (Handicrafts), and field officials have been nominated to facilitate artisans to register on Gel portal. Training has also been imparted to these officials by GeM team to assist artisans.

E-Commerce Platform

To provide a direct marketing platform to artisans/ weavers, the Ministry of Textiles is developing an e-commerce platform through Digital India Corporation, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. In the first phase, 100 handicrafts clusters are being selected throughout the country for registration and uploading of photographs of their products on e-this commerce portal with the help of Common Service Centres (CSCs). The clusters will be mapped with nearby CSC for providing handholding support to artisans.

Thus, by harnessing a wide range of creative skills of artisans in the country, DC (Handicrafts) aims to make this sector a multi-billion-dollar marketplace with the right support and business environment. The organisation aims to promote India’s craft heritage, replete with awesome regional diversity, which presents the country with a distinct edge in global markets.