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| COVID-19: 3 lakh Kashmir handicrafts artisans struggle to make ends meet | | | Ishtiyaq Ahmad
Early Times Report
Srinagar, June 18: At least 3 lakh people associated with handicrafts in Kashmir are struggling to feed their families due to lockdowns since August 5, 2019.
Kashmir remained shut for months after abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019 and now COVID-19 lockdown.
Amid this, at least 3 lakh people associated with handicrafts including carpets, papier-machie, shawls, wood carving are finding it difficult to feed their families. Kashmir’s handicrafts are famous across the world due to quality.
Ghulam Mohammad, 45, a resident of North Kashmir’s Baramulla district has been selling vegetables on a footpath for the last several months.
“All the money I had saved which I earned through carpet weaving stands exhausted. It is around 2 years, we are making no earnings,” he said.
Before August 5 2019, he would earn Rs 600 per day. He had two more people who were assisting him in carpet weaving.
There are so many artisans who have taken up odd jobs to manage the expenses of their families during the lockdown.
“We used to make our ends meet even during the worst times. But this time, our business is shut as we are not able to export carpets to international markets,” said Bashir Ahmad, a carpet dealer.
Gulf and European countries form a major customer base for Kashmiri carpet dealers.
They have suffered huge losses as they could not export the goods.
Mohammad Subhan, a papier-machie artist from Srinagar is sitting idle since the COVID-19 broke out in March last year.
“We have been badly hit first by lockdown post abrogation of Article 370 and now COVID-19 pandemic. There is no availability of raw material. There is hardly any productivity and sales,” he added.
The Kashmiri craft of papier-machine mainly uses wood, leftover wood pulp and paper waste.
Every year Subhan would participate in various artisan fairs across India like in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Gujarat.
Traders say there is no business in the handicrafts sector.
“We are neither able to export goods in the international market nor there is any domestic market.
All the orders this year have been cancelled,” they said. |
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