Jharkhand artists are expert hands at handicrafts – Mr Kumar

20 Jul '09

5 min read

Jharcraft, an initiative by the Government of Jharkhand to promote the traditional handicrafts of the state has been in the news in recent months for taking bold initiatives to promote handicraft products from Jharkhand by organizing trade fairs and directly and indirectly promoting the handicraft trade. Recently, Jharcraft had also announced setting up of “Kalagram” centre's on the lines of Dili Hat.

To understand the initiatives taken by Jharcraft, Fibre2fashion spoke exclusively to Mr Dhirendra Kumar, Special Secretary of the Industries Department and the person behind the progress achieved by Jharcraft, which has made rapid strides in promoting the local traditional handicrafts, tasar silk and handlooms in India at a national level under his tutelage.

We began by asking Mr Kumar to explain the concept of Kalagram Centre, to which he explained in detail by saying, “Jharcraft has 3 wings of its operations; tasar silk, handloom and handicrafts. As Jharkhand state is the leading state for tasar silk, hence it not only provides employment to the poor village people but also frames a better way for a better future for many of the tribal families”

He continued “As Jharkhand is also rich in handloom and handicraft products; hence many developmental activities have been carried out by Jharcraft in these sectors too. The 'Kalagram Centre' is basically about 'Urban Haat's' , which is going to be organized by the department on the occasion of 'Sawan Mahotsav' in the major districts of Jharkhand state i.e. Hazaribagh, Parasnath, Deoghar for marketing of handloom and handicraft items.

“Urban Haat” basically targets and creates awareness amongst the people of various districts, about the goods being produced by the local artisans and weavers and also to bring into their knowledge the various schemes for supporting them so that more and more people can be benefited through these schemes. The main objective of Jharcraft is to provide marketing space for the merchandise manufactured by the local artisans, SHGs and NGOs which are achieved by organizing various fairs”, he added by saying.

He concluded by saying, “Urban Haat is not restricted to purchasing only, in fact you can have all kinds of fun and entertainment as well and since it is being organised on a greater platform, the entire family (from a child to grandparents) can have fun as everything has been planned keeping them into consideration and moreover one can acquire various handloom and handicraft items like; tasar sarees, bedsheets, cushion covers, salwar suits, lac bangles etc. at reasonable rates”.

Next we asked him to tell us about the different handicraft products produced in Jharkhand, to which he said, “The handicrafts of Jharkhand, made by its tribal population, can present a galore of mementos to the tourists as the state has a rich tradition of art and culture and the artisans or rather artists of Jharkhand have an expert hand for preparing delicate, beautiful and elegant handicrafts, however, the well known Paitkar paintings and the stone carvings have become almost extinct in Jharkhand due to the lack of state patronage, and inadequate conservation and promotion of these unique skills”.

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