The Hindu Business Line : Economy and ecosystem

They are dark-skinned, simple people with an innocent pair of eyes which slowly catch up with the urban anxiety. They live in the forest-fringed villages of Bastar district of Chhattisgarh. Their economy is an extension of the ecosystem, which could cohere around agriculture, handicrafts, minor forest products and tourism.

Over the years, handicraft making has become their major occupation. Though Bastar handicrafts such as wood carving, dhokra and iron craft have a good demand in the domestic and international craft bazaar, lack of transparency in handicraft trade is the main reason why the artisans get less than they deserve.

Around 1,500 iron craftsmen, men and women from 18 villages, make a wide range of utility-cum-decorative pieces.

The items vary from a vibrant antelope of two-inch height to a life-size tribal warrior; everything is shaped into objects of beauty. The artisans use their hammer like a fine brush to make magnificent objects from pieces of iron.

Nandlal Viswakarma, 42, from Umargaon, reminisces about how his grandfather extracted iron from stone to make household tools without knowing his grandson would give it a creative turn. “I have made the main gate of Indira Gandhi Kala Kendra in New Delhi with the history of Bastar engraved on it,” said Nandlal, “I got Rs 90,000 from the project cost of Rs 5.5 lakh.” It is a paltry sum if we take into account six months of labour and other expenditures.

Poaching for skills

Many marketing agents and traders poach for skilled artisans to get the items into the market. They sell it at a high price in the craft bazaars. The illiterate artisans hardly know about the transaction, contented just to get their daily wages.

Like iron craftsmen, there are around 1,000 dhokra craftsmen from Kondagaon, Barkai, Karampur, Jagdalpur and Erakot villages of Bastar who make remarkable dhokra craft from metal alloys, including a tribal couple, woman selling fruits, a tribal home, women doing household chores, a tribal warrior, and festival scenes. Everything epitomises the fullness of life and happiness.

Chhattisgarh Hastashilpa Vikas Board purchases dhokra crafts from tribal artisans. A one-foot tall icon of a tribal woman adorned with ornaments, weighing 2 kg, is sold to the corporation at Rs 1,100 per piece. To make this item, the artisan spends Rs 600 on brass, Rs 100 on wood and coal in addition to three days’ wage of Rs 300. So the making cost comes to Rs 1,000, leaving a narrow profit margin of Rs 100.

It’s a similiar situation for Bastar’s wood craftsmen, who carve out decorative pieces such as tribal gods, goddesses, weapons and musical instruments.

Call for empathy

The majority of tribal artisans are no longer interested in giving their best to the trade as middlemen corner their margins. Nearly 40 artisans from Deogaon village work for a trader to earn Rs 30 to Rs 80 per day.

The state government must intervene and put together a band of sincere officials with knowledge of tribal art and craft to help preserve the craft tradition and tap the market potential as well.

(The author is a Pune-based freelance writer.)