‘Karkhandar’ Scheme Launched In J&K

Table of Contents

SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENT

In a significant development, the Government today issued orders for giving a fresh impetus to the training in handicraft sector in the UT by unveiling the ‘KARKHANDAR’ scheme which is a unique concept as far the upliftment of artisans and weavers through training is concerned.

IMPLEMENTATION

The scheme will be implemented throughout the UT by Directorate of Handicrafts and Handloom Kashmir/ Jammu.

BOOSTING UP

The scheme will not only boost those crafts which have good potential but also the languishing ones.
Among the languishing crafts the crafts like Glazed tiles, Silver ware and filligree will be taken on for full revival in the first instance.
The manpower generated through various training programmes by the department in the form of trainees will now get an edge as the trainees will get training from the experienced trainers in nearby karkhanas and those trainers now can be National/ State/ Shilp Guru awardees/ Master crafts person of repute in their respective crafts.
The main thrust of the scheme shall be to identify and impart skill upgradation training in such crafts which are facing human resource crunch like walnut wood carving, silver filigree, carpet, kanishawl weaving, khatamband and Paper Machie crafts.

BENEFIT MERITORIOUS TRAINEE

Under the scheme the meritorious trainees will be given RS 2000/month as honorarium etc.

TRAINER

The trainer will get Rs 2000/month for each trainee and plus Rs 25000/- for logistics, raw materials etc

AIM OF THE SCHEME

The aim of the this scheme is to transfer the skill set of the master craftsmen to the younger generation as this was a general observation that the skill transfer from the master craftsmen to the younger generation was happening at a snail’s pace.
By virtue of this scheme, the practical knowledge sharing between the skilled and those who want to equip themselves in the practical aspects of the particular trade will happen at a fast pace and in a time bound manner.

IMPORTANT INDIAN HANDICRAFTS

HANDICRAFT TECHNIQUES

There are various types of handicraft techniques that are used on cloth like weaving and printing. Bandhani is a technique where wooden blocks or printed cloths were used to make patterns on other material.
A special kind of Tie and Dye technique was called Laharia which created patterns like waves on the clothes.
Kalamkari utilizes the art of hand painting of fabric using vegetable dyes of the deep colors

Ivory Crafting :

Ivory carvings were exported from India during the Harappan period. There is evidence of ivory being used for handicrafts during Mughal period too.

TERRACOTTA CRAFTS

Terracotta Crafts: This means baked clay. The process makes it water-proof and hard. This makes it suitable for pottery, bricks.
Clay and pottery : Pottery making is known as “Lyrics of handicrafts”. Making objects out of clay has been one of the earliest things known to man. Vedic period saw “Painted greyware Pottery” being made.
Bronze craft: The dancing girl of mohen-jo-daro was evidence of the art of metal casting.

The earliest nonferrous metals used by man were copper and tin. These were mixed to obtain bronze

THERE WERE TWO TYPES OF ECONOMIC TRANSACTIONS IN A RURAL ECONOMY INVOLVING TRADITIONAL ARTISANS:

Contractual transactions: Artisans would to supply goods to court nobles and temple British flooded Indian markets with cheap factory made goods. If an ordinary goods has substitutes, then its demand tends to be price-elastic e.g. when cheap machine made cutlery, spades, textile are available, potter, blacksmiths, weavers will suffer a fall in demand.
So, in the “domestic sale”, the local artisans had to either cut down prices or stop production. Thus even in spot transactions, he earned less compared to the pre-colonial times.
elite in exchange of the patronage and as a payment for land revenue for the land allotted to them for cultivation.

Spot transaction: Peasants, tribal and artisans would come to weekly haats and annual fairs to sell their goods and buy what they needed using barter system.
THE ENTRY OF EUROPEAN, AND THE PROCESS COLONIZATION OF INDIA HURT THE ARTISANAL INDUSTRY IN FOLLOWING WAYS-
- The British had annexed a large number of the princely states in India. Traditional rulers, court nobles and temple elites were ruined- consequently artisans were deprived of patrons and contractual transactions.
British flooded Indian markets with cheap factory made goods. If an ordinary goods has substitutes, then its demand tends to be price-elastic e.g. when cheap machine made cutlery, spades, textile are available, potter, blacksmiths, weavers will suffer a fall in demand.
So, in the “domestic sale”, the local artisans had to either cut down prices or stop production. Thus even in spot transactions, he earned less compared to the pre-colonial times.
- Still there was good demand of Indian handicrafts – particular carpets and ivory among European nobles for aesthetic purpose and as status-symbols. BUT
  - To tieup with such overseas ‘patrons’, an artisan required more working capital, transport-logistics and business network. It gave rise to ‘intermediate economy’ i.e. town bankers and merchants would purchase artisanal goods in bulk, and send it to London for auction and would gulp down large chunk of payment as commission.
- Unscrupulous Indian merchants started factories in urban areas and began producing cheap quality knockoff items because ultimate foreign buyers were unfamiliar with how to judge fine Indian craftsmanship.
- Thus rural artisans saw a further fall in demand for genuine & expensive handcrafted items.

In the weekly rural haats tribals used to supply lac, wax, wood, resin, natural varnish and dyes, hides, tusks and bones, certain rock minerals and other minor forest produce (MFP) to the artisans as raw material.
But in the colonial India, the artisans didnot require so many MFP to produce high quality goods, because patronage of court & temple elites declined.
And in the exported items for foreign patrons, the intermediary merchants would insist on using minimal number of cheapest inputs to maximize profits, because ultimate foreign buyers were unfamiliar about how to judge fine Indian craftsmanship.
The tribal hunters and gatherers saw fall in demand.
- Previously, both production and consumption of traditional crafts were primarily rural.
- Hence ‘middlemen’ didnot occupy prominent space in the economic transactions.
- Quality standards were strict as buyers were local and knew about the criteria to judge fine craftsmanship.
- Thus, landed peasantry dominated the economic and social relations in rural economy before colonization.
- But in colonial India, weekly haat based barter system declined, and artisans and farmers did not have surplus-cash to buy their inputs material. So, “cash, credit and contract-transactions” increased

Question:

Which of the following is the earliest source of Kashmir ?