Are our traditional handicrafts doomed to slow death ?

India has remained an industrial hub since the days of Harappa. It exported handicrafts like pots, pictographic seals, shawls etc to Dilmun, Alten dipi. Even during the Roman Empire, India was the center of manufacturing. Our handicrafts like chintz and Dhaka Muslin were famous in the entire world.
With the colonization of India by the British, handicraft industries started facing a systematic assault by the British East India Company – Exploitative marketing policies led to flooding the Indian market with items manufactured in Lancashire & Manchester. Our handicrafts faced severe assault as they lost both domestic as well as foreign markets.
Even today, our traditional handicrafts have not revived; rather, they are going for further decline. Its share in our exports has been declining consistently. However, the slow death of traditional handicrafts is neither good for our economy nor for our culture, nor for our society.
Hence, this topic requires a careful analysis as to why traditional handicrafts are facing decline? What are the negative impacts of this phenomenon? What can be done to arrest this challenge?
TRADITIONAL HANDICRAFTS: A SLOW DEATH
The systematic destruction of handicrafts like shawls, pottery, paintings, embroidery etc. continued by the British till independence. Even post-independence, we shifted our focus towards industrialization through Nehru Mahalanobis’ strategy. This led to increased mass production to fulfill people’s needs. Traditional handicrafts could not compete with the industrial outputs in terms of cost, durability, design etc.
Similarly, the advent of globalization caused the integration of markets and the creation of a Global supply chain. Based on the comparative advantage method, the open market threatened traditional handicrafts. Cheap products from China captured the Indian market and further destroyed handicraft industries.
Furthermore, globalization also induced socio-cultural changes in society. It changed the preferences of the people. For instance, now American folk culture has become our ideal. We wear our traditional dresses only occasionally. It reduces the demand for traditional handicrafts.
Moreover, as per capita income is rising, people are moving towards urban areas where they fulfill their consumerist needs from malls. Urban markets provide more options to the people. Our traditional handicrafts have not been able to keep pace with changing times and tastes.
Additionally, traditional handicraft industries face challenges like a lack of funding, lack of access to markets, poor infrastructure, low profitability, poor skill set. All these bottlenecks hinder the growth of these industries and cause slow deaths.
Hence, traditional handicrafts are essential for multiple reasons. If they die, it will cause widespread negative impacts.
IMPACTS: A TOUGH TIME
Handicrafts are a carrier of our culture. They help sustain our millennia-old civilization. Their decline will certainly impact our cultural values.
Moreover, most of the handicrafts are produced by women. Women empowerment is directly linked to the prosperity of handicraft industries. It will affect women’s health, educational, nutritional status negatively.
Similarly, the slow death of handicrafts will cause further backwardness of tribals. Tribals produce a significant chunk of handicrafts. For example, Chakesang shawls of Nagaland, Pashmina in Ladakh, handmade jewelry in Nilgiris etc. are produced by tribals.
Along with this, the majority of these small-scale industries are located in rural areas. They act as an engine of growth for rural areas by providing employment, subsistence income ensuring a life of dignity. An Oxfam report has already highlighted that 1% of Indians hold 58% of its wealth. The decline of handicrafts will further increase this inequality hindering the goal of economic justice & social swaraj.
Similarly, we have the target to double our exports and handicrafts form 7% of our export basket. Hence any decline will directly have an impact on our exports leading to reduced FOREX earnings & increased current Account Deficit.
Environmentally, traditional handicrafts have very few footprints; they reduce tendencies of consumerism & materialism. Their decline will make it hard for us to achieve Paris climate deal goals and our SDG goals. India is already one of the most vulnerable countries and any increase in pollution, destruction of the environment will create severe challenges for us.
Hence, it is essential to contain the decline of traditional handicrafts. We are fully capable of doing it with the right set of policies.
WAY AHEAD: AN UPHILL BATTLE
Handicrafts have immense potential to become a household name due to their beauty, usability, decorative abilities etc. Its potential can be harnessed by creating demands through smart marketing advertisements. For instance, Bamboo bottles of Meghalaya have become very popular worldwide.
Apart from this, we can develop skills of the people involved in the handicrafts profession so as to ensure they match the taste of present time. For instance, there is an increase in demand for Handspun Jackets due to its style and popularity.
Similarly, there is a need to supplement handicraft industries with the right set of economic policies. For instance, easy availability of credit, exemption from export duty, creation of infrastructure etc. MUDRA Scheme, UDYAAMI protsahan yojana, saubhagya are right policies for this. For promotion of tribal handicrafts TRIFED has launched e Tribal mart, GoI has launched Hamari Dharohar scheme.
Lastly, we can nudge our people to become vocal for local. Recently, Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan not only aims to provide credit to handicraft units but also creates a Jan Aandolan to promote traditional handicrafts.
Thus, since independence we have come a long way with magnificent achievements and with some failures/ No delved , traditional handicrafts are facing decline. We have the potential to empower t___ industry to become an enterprise. Its empowerment is essential for gender justice, inclusive growth & sustainable development.