• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• Business Line
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Mohan Padmanabhan

Kolkata , May 2

THE Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), jointly with the Department of Cottage and Small Scale Industries, Government of West Bengal, and the Development Commissioner (Handicrafts), Government of India, has undertaken an in-depth study to unearth the export potential of handicraft items in four districts of West Bengal, namely, Nadia, Bardhaman, Bankura and Purba (East) Medinipur.

The study is being taken up under the guidelines of "Baba Sahab Ambedkar Hastshilp Vikas Yojana" of the office of the DC, Handicrafts, Government of India.

FIEO, according to its Director General, Mr G.Balachandran, will act as the mother agency.

The two-fold objective of the study is to identify the clusters of major handicraft items that can be offered from West Bengal and to know the requirements of these clusters to be able to produce exportable handicraft items.

FIEO, eastern region, which has already launched the study, to be completed in phases, has identified two clusters, namely, for horn products and clay dolls. While Baishnabchak, East Medinipur has been identified as a cluster for horn products, Ghurni, Nadia, has been chosen for clay dolls.

A FIEO team has already visited these two points for preliminary studies, mainly on products offered, raw materials and implements used, for studying the quality scale-ups, scope of common facilities, exposure to export business and supply capabilities on a commercial scale.

According to FIEO senior officials, there are around 40 families of artisans in Baishnabchak, engaged in production of horn products, like traditional motifs, artefacts and utility items.

Discussions have been held with the Baishnabchak Bisan Shilpa Samabay Samity Ltd, a co-operative of the artisans, which has in its fold 82 members, including 50 artisans.

The co-operative, besides providing common facilities, also provides motorised machines for polishing, cutting, lathes and electric drill.

Each artisan is paid Rs 1,500 per month in the peak season, and Rs 500 during lean seasons.

Raw materials such as black horns are sourced from Rajabajar (Kolkata) and nearby places like Uluberia, Mecheda, Ramtarak, and Kanktia. White horn, which used to be sourced from Chennai, has now become very costly and is generally not used.

The artisans' produce are now purchased by the Samity, and a portion of these are re-sold to Equitable Marketing Association, Kolkata as per export orders, after retaining a 10 per cent margin on the purchase price.

The balance items are at times displayed in fairs/exhibitions in Kolkata city. According to FIEO, the products not picked up by Equitable are not marketed properly, and this needs to be rectified. It is felt that there was an urgent need to create a marketing channel, which would keep the production running throughout the year.

The artisans, it is learnt, are still not ready to export on their own. Proper training on design and production techniques is said to be an immediate requirement of the cluster.

In the case of the cluster at Ghurni, Nadia, known for its clay dolls, it has been observed that there exists a fairly strong supply base, with several award-winning artisans located in the place. While raw materials are available locally in plenty, there is no co-operative, and the artisans now supply domestically, cashing in on their locally acquired brand image.

Training on packaging to protect the fragile items while in transit has also been stressed by the FIEO team.

Sufficient land is available at the centre of the town, to create the cluster, and with adequate support facilities including common facilities, the talented local artisans, according to FIEO, can create export-worthy clay dolls.

More Stories on : Exports & Imports | Arts & Crafts | Other States

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Nursing a dream job

Copyright © 2004, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line