Handicraft

The Handicrafts Sector plays a significant & important role in the country’s economy. It provides employment to avast segment of crafts person in rural & semi urban areas and generates substantial foreign exchange for the country, while preserving its cultural heritage. Handicrafts have great potential, as they hold the key for sustaining not only the existing set of millions of artisans spread over length and breadth of the country, but also for the increasingly large number of new entrants in the crafts activity. Presently, handicrafts contribute substantially to employment generation and exports.

Constraints: The Handicraft sector has, however, suffered due to its very nature of being unorganized, with the additional constraints of low capital, poor exposure to new technologies, absence of market intelligence,and a poor institutional framework.

India is one of the important suppliers of handicrafts to the world market. Although exports of Handicrafts appear to be sizable, India’s share in world imports is very small. Despite the existence of production base and a large number of craftsmen, India has not been able to en-cash existing opportunities.

Programmes and Schemes available

Massive training Programme

Alongside other districts of the state, 15 training Centers are presently operating in District Bandipora.Out of these,three(3) are run under Advance training programme wherein trainees are paid a stipend of Rs 700/- per head per month and twelve(12) centers are run under Elementary training programme,in which trainees are paid a stipend of Rs 500/- per trainee per month.Though this Training programme a number of unemployed youth especially poor girls are being trained in different crafts like carpet,Sozni,Stapple,Gabba,Wood Carving and Chain Stitch. The trainees are being made able to work by their own and earn their livelihood in a respectable manner.

Development of handicrafts(Registration of Artisan and grant of financial support).

Development of Handicrafts in this district and to generate more and more avenues of employment besides helping the artisans to stand on their own and saving them from the cluthes of middlemanship,hasslefree Registration of artisans is done by us and the cases of registered Artisans are sponsered to different Banks operating in the district for grant of financial assistance in their favour under Artisan Credit Card Scheme (ACCSS) through which a loan of Rs 0.90 lac is granted to each artisan and 10% interest subsidy is paid to the artisan so advanced with the loan for five years from the date of its advancement/disbursement.

Supply of Modern Carpet Looms:-

As a Sequel to modernization of conventional carpet looms,the Handicrafts Department is providing modern carpet looms to poor carpet weavers free of cost so as to help them to enhance their pace of production and also help them to stand on their own.

Coperativisation Programme:-

As a follow up of the training programme being run by the Directorate of Handicrafts,the coperativisation of the same never glossed over.The artisans in general and the passed out trainees of the training centers in particular are brought under the purview for cooperative fold by forming industrial cooperative societies who are provided Managerial assistance on tapering basis.