By IANS
Raipur : A group of 22 artisans from Bastar in Chhattisgarh has sold indigenous handicrafts worth Rs.1 million at an eight-day crafts exhibition in Goa’s Madgaon city earlier this month.
“Traditional handicrafts made from wood, terracotta and bell metal were a hit at the Handloom and Handicrafts Exhibition in Goa’s Madgaon city that ended Jan 18,” Krishna Kumar Rai, chief of Chhattisgarh Handicraft Development Board told IANS Monday.
“The 22 Bastar artisans who put up stalls in the Madgaon exhibition with the support of the board impressed visitors, including foreign tourists, with their handicrafts and netted Rs.1 million, a record for handicrafts sale in any exhibition in recent years,” he added.
The board plans to put up stalls for Bastar artisans in every exhibition this year in Haryana, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, besides Delhi.
Nearly 20,000 families in Chhattisgarh’s southern Bastar region make terracotta, bell metal and wood products, but poor market access keeps them mired in poverty because they have no way to sell their products.
Officials say Bastar products will now get global access. The government has entered into written agreements with hundreds of artisans, along with four local organisations involved in handicrafts production, for direct marketing.
The agreement was signed in the presence of Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh between the central government, Bastar district panchayat and artisans, besides four organisations of artisans at Kondagaon in Bastar district. Under the pact, more than six regional business hubs (RBHs) will be set up in Bastar district.
The Bastar-based business centres will be built on a public-private panchayat partnership model to utilise locally-available resources and skills and provide sustainable employment opportunities to rural artisans through larger market access in domestic and export markets for the handicrafts.