The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Poor sales at Shilparamam leave artisans dejected

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 06, 2006

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Poor sales at Shilparamam leave artisans dejected

Puja S. Navin

Goods worth Rs. 3 crores sold this year against last year's 8.9 crores

UP FOR GRABS: A variety of handicrafts on display at Shilparamam. Photo: P.V. Sivakumar

HYDERABAD: Thirteen days have passed since the All-India Crafts Mela at Shilparamam began, but Rajesh Kumar Jha, a Madhubani artist from Bihar with sales of only Rs. 13,000 is an unhappy man.

To set up a stall, he had to cough up Rs. 10,000, but with paintings worth over a lakh on display, he finds current business very disappointing. Sheikh Saiuddin with appliqué decorative items from Orissa concurs with Jha, "Business is not good," he says. Ditto with craftsmen from Trichy with wooden carvings worth over two lakhs who have sold goods worth only Rs. 50,000.

Many attribute the dip in business to large number of stalls, almost 700, 50 more than last year. Others blame it on change in the dates from December 15 to 31 in earlier years to December 23 to January 1, when the shopping season almost comes to a close.

Bargain woes

Others point to too much bargaining. Ram Pal Singh Kohli from Chanderi in Madhya Pradesh says, "In 2000, there was no barganing, but in 2005-06, customers want saris of Rs. 1000 for Rs. 200. It takes one week to weave this sari," he says. Unhappy with the sale, he has made a list of customers to start a door-to-door sale once the mela gets over.

While records of Shilparaman show that this year the number of walk-ins into the mela on January broke all records with 32,000 visitors on a single day, total sales as on Thursday stand at just Rs. 3 crores whereas sales in 2004 were a staggering Rs. 8.9 crores.

Drawing in NRIs

With just five more days to go before the curtains fall, signs of hitting the high mark of Rs. 8 crores look bleak unless a clear strategy to attract exporters and NRIs from the upcoming Pravasi Bharitya Divas is worked out to boost sales.

"Exporters should come, they are the big buyers," says the Madhubani painting artist, narrating his experiences of sales in Dilli Haat. In fact jute sofas and wooden antique furniture are on sale at dirt cheap prices, that will fetch at least Rs. 2,000 to Rs. 3,000 more if sold in any of the city showrooms. Another example is double bed sheets priced at Rs. 350 compared to Rs. 700 at big malls.

There is a crying need to get exporters to see these products and also enable artisans to increase their income. Special Officer at Shilparamam M. Balasubramaniam says the mela dates were changed on the request of the Development Commissioner Handlooms to make it coincide with the Pravasi Bharitya Divas from January 7. Efforts have also been made to bring the NRIs to the mela. "On January 6, 800 delegates will be attending the mela," he says which should help boost sales.

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