Cheap labour, machine-made products, lack of marketing and pandemic have made them even more vulnerable
Mudassir Kuloo
Afroza Begum, 35, and her husband Mohammad Amin, 38, from Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir have been weaving carpets for the last 10 years. Despite being skilled artisans, the duo earns Rs 300-400 per day after working ten hours a day, which is insufficient to make ends meet. With two children in Class 6th and 3rd, they find it hard to manage their expenditures. Besides, the long hours of weaving carpets have a serious impact on their physical and mental health.
Manzoor Ahmad Bhat, a 35-year-old carpet weaver with over 15 years of experience, laments his decision to follow in his ancestors' footsteps as he struggles to provide for his family of five, including two children, a wife, and a mother in Central Kashmir's Budgam district.
“I earn Rs 200 per day after working over 10 hours in a day, even after weaving carpets for the last 15-years. We receive a meagre wage that fails to reflect the artisanal skill required to produce these prized carpets. While top businessmen and politicians are among those who enjoy these carpets, the artisans themselves do not earn even the wages of an unskilled labourer. With increasing demand for Kashmiri handicrafts, artisans remain hopeful for a better future, but they face multiple challenges,” he said.
Cheap labour, recent competition from machine-made products, inadequate marketing, and the adverse impact of COVID-19 are some of the challenges. Moreover, some products from other parts of the world are falsely marketed as Kashmiri handicraft items, compounding the artisans' difficulties.
At least 3 lakh people are associated with handicrafts including carpets, papier-mache, shawls, and wood carving, who over the years have been finding it difficult to feed their families. However, they expect better days ahead given the increasing demand for handicrafts in several countries.
Between 2019 and 2021, thousands of Kashmiri artisans, including 45-year-old shawl maker Bashir Ahmad from Srinagar, faced tough times. First, Kashmir was shut down for weeks following the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019, and then the Covid-19 pandemic crippled the global economy.
According to Bashir, the situation had been really bad for artisans as they were struggling to feed their families. “The situation worsened post August 5, 2019 and then Covid 19. My son was sitting idle for months as there was no demand for Kashmiri handicrafts. But during 2022, we received several orders and made good earnings,” he said.
However, not all the artisans were as fortunate as Ahmad. While the artisans who produce these carpets are struggling financially, the export of Kashmiri carpets has increased considerably. Official figures reveal that goods worth Rs 728.99 crore were exported in the three quarters of the fiscal 2022-2023 of which export of Kashmiri carpets were over Rs 300 crore to various countries. Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha recently mentioned that the administration has taken several important steps to boost the handicraft and handloom sector. More than three lakh artisans are registered with the department.
To protect the industry from counterfeits, the government has implemented GI tags on various handicraft items. These tags are QR code-based and serve as indications of the product's origin and associated quality, reputation, or characteristics of the region.
Shah noted that while the figures for only three quarters have been finalized so far, he believes that the export figures of Kashmiri handicrafts would have exceeded Rs 1000 crore during 2022-2023. However, it may take some time to get the final figures.
(The author is an independent writer from Jammu and Kashmir. Charkha Features)
