The Hindu : Karnataka News : Artisans to be trained to take on Chinese products

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 12, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka

Artisans to be trained to take on Chinese products

R. Krishna Kumar

The Human Resource Development Scheme will be launched in 11th Five Year Plan

Handicraft exports may touch Rs. 25,000 crore
Traditional skills of handicraft artisans to be upgraded

— PHOTO: M.A. SRIRAM

Helping artisans: Innovations in designs and technological intervention has been mooted to promote Indian handicrafts in international markets.

MYSORE: A new project on capacity building of artisans and introduction of new design through institutional training to lend a contemporary touch to handicrafts is expected to give an impetus to the craft industry in the State.

To be launched by the Union Government during the 11th Five Year Plan (2007-12), it is an effort to take on competition from China and other emerging economies that are flooding the market with inferior quality products that are mass produced at a cheaper rate while quality products from India receive a short shrift due to high price.

The Human Resource Development Scheme, as the programme is called, is also expected to break new ground in terms of product design and envisages providing a strong production base coupled with improvement and use of appropriate technology, processes and innovative designs to meet the present day market requirements.

The objective is to upgrade skills as also provide value addition to the traditional skills of the handicraft artisans through institutional training, according to S.C. Devaramani, Assistant Director of Handicrafts Marketing and Extension Centre, here. The centre will have to identify institutions that can provide such training to help artisans improve their crafts and converting it into a viable business enterprise apart from capacity building of artisans and their self-help groups.

Novel scheme

Reckoned to be a novel scheme to improve and bring about innovations in the field of handicrafts, the project will bring in technological interventions to ease the drudgery through mechanisation that is also expected to rejuvenate the traditional handicraft products.

Mr. Devaramani pointed out that the country’s foreign exchange earnings through export of handicrafts was about Rs. 17,500 crore during 2006-07 and was expected to touch Rs. 25,000 crore this fiscal. There was tremendous demand for wood-based handicraft items for which Karnataka was renowned. This apart, textiles too had a significant demand, but there was growing competition from China, Taiwan, Korea and Indonesia whose products were flooding the international market.

There was another dimension to the problem pertaining to traditional handicraft items of India as the artisans here tried to push products without market information. There was a need to bring about an attitudinal change among artisans to experiment with modern designs that are more acceptable in the market, according to Devaramani. “South Indian handicraft items have more intricate work, including carving, that pushes up the cost while plain designs that also have functional utility is preferred in the international market”.

The HRDS training programme entails both long-term (nine months) and short-term (three months) classes and each artisan will be provided a stipend to cover the business loss they sustain in the process of acquiring additional skills in training centres.

For the artisans, this is reckoned to be an opportunity to adopt a more market-oriented approach for continuous and sustainable production for meeting the short production cycle of international market. The scheme also aims at training the artisans and NGOs in non-technical skills such as micro finance, preparation of business plans to compete in the international market.

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