When Governments Take a Stand: Developing Artisans in India

In late September, an ambitious program was launched in the state of Jharkhand, India: the government is aiming to train 50,000 people in 6 months, while giving them financial assistance and marketing opportunities. According to the State’s Industry Secretary, their aim is to “ensure a minimum income of Rs 25,000 to 30,000 for each trained individual.” In theory, this sounds like a great initiative – the government spending money on improving the lives of individuals. However, is this, a practical long-term solution to the poverty many artisans in India face?

A focus on turning fashion into a social enterprise has becoming increasingly popular amongst governmental, not-profit and for-profit organizations alike. In fact, prominent figures such as the Art of Living founder, Sri Sri Ravi Shanker are asking fashion lovers to take up this mission of development. In a video message to some of the most powerful women in the world, at an event titled “Giving Back is Luxury,” he stated that “Fashions change because that is their nature but mission stays. If all the women who love fashion can take up a mission of development of our planet, we will be able to give a better world to our coming generations.” This is the kind of motivation that has propelled organizations such as Shopanthropic, to focus on creating sustainable alternatives for fashion and lifestyle products.

With such a strong force behind it, it is reasonable to ask a government to set aside money for initiatives that foster more artisans or train existing ones. Additionally, these projects don’t always have to involve big money or big goals – they can be smaller, more personal initiatives. An example of this are organized workshops for artisans in rural villages, which allowed local artisans to received training to help them develop their talents. These “awareness camps” are run by governmental departments in India and focus on providing financial assistance to the participating artisans to help them become self-sufficient.

Many of these projects focus on empowering women, with the idea that women are the heart of the family, the heard of society and can be a key driver in change in communities. An example is a project being run for slum women to get a chance to learn about fashion-design through 3-month courses – run by the Community Infrastructure Development project of the Kerala Sustainable Urban Development Project in India. Currently, their scope is very limited –with 20 women planning to showcase their design skills in an exhibition. Here, the idea is to utilize their proficiency for tailoring and teach them about fashion trends, in order to make them more marketable.

Which brings us to the question of whether such initiatives are sustainable?

One on hand, any funds being allocated to allowing artisans to develop their talents are useful. However, will such 1-day to 6-month long programs be enough to make these individuals ready to be self-sufficient? What happens after the program is done? What sort of accountability lies in the hands of the program coordinators or the artisans themselves? What steps are in place to help these individuals bring their talents to the marketplace? Is their training comprehensive enough to help them handle all aspects of being an entrepreneur? Are there any cultural or social issues hindering their success and how are these being handled? Is this solution long-term?

At Shopanthropic, we believe that it takes more than just a program that lasts a couple days to help these artisans become self-sufficient. It is ongoing support that goes well-passed the prescribed period of time that helps these artisans learn the business and technical skills they need to turn their handicraft into a viable business in a larger marketplace. While some of these governmental and not-profit programs offer such support, there are others that ignore the crucial question: “What’s Next?”