Dnote Xpress,Issue #9,December 2014

Issue: #9| December 2014

REVIVAL OF C

THROUGH CSR

IN THE ISSUE Fiinovation & CII help Bridge the Gap Dastkar - Safeguarding Heritage Revival of Crafts through CSR Indian Craft Villages Fiinobservation of International Days www.ďŹ inova on.co.in

FTS

01

Fiinovation & CII help Bridge the Gap New Delhi: Fiinovation & the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) came together for a conference titled 'Bridging the Gap: Building Ecosystem for Inclusive Value Creation' on 27th November, 2014. The day long workshop was invigorating and informative which was attended by the doyens of the industry.

The Welcome Address by Mr Shreekant Somany Deputy Chairman, CII Northern Region & Chairman Somany Ceramics Ltd raised the poignant issue of inclusive growth which takes centre stage in the Panel at the Fiino-CII Conference context of India, and accommodates a large section of population which is under 35 years. The session explained the relevance of the conference title and also about the role of inclusive policies leading to dividends.

Mr S Chakraborty, CEO Innovative Financial Advisors Pvt Ltd raised pertinent points during the Context Setting Session where he spoke of the need of using inclusive growth as a weapon to bridge the gap which gives a sense of an uphill task, with energy requirements increasing. He advocated for implementable government structures which facilitate inclusivity. He also spoke of a balance between prosperity and profit by drawing analogy from the family structure. He submitted by recommending industries to function as families, and ensure community ownership to create an impact.

The Special Address by Milind Kamble, Chairman DICCI raised the matter of affirmative action, the historical and the current analysis. The detailed session highlighted the need to take forward affirmative action where the industry needs to play a key role if one speaks of inclusivity. This includes vendors from minority groups which shall ensure horizontal growth as a recommendation.

Mr Kartik Bharat Ram Chairman, Regional Committee on Affirmative Action & Deputy Managing Director, SRF LTD gave the concluding remarks and shared the need for a cohesive society and examples of some companies practising affirmative action.

The conference was a success as it raised pertinent issues of the current day and was attended by an array of stakeholders. The quality of discussion was high and holistic.

Food for Thought ...

Hear the Influencers Speak ...

 There are over 7 million artisans in rural India engaged in

“Development of any country's handicra s rests primarily on the women ” ‐ ‐Kamaladevi Cha opadhyay

crafts, the backbone of non-farm rural economy of the country.

Social Reformer

 India is a large developing country with handicrafts being the second largest employer after agriculture.

“A work of art is the unique result of a unique temperament .” ‐Oscar Wilde Writer

 The Indian Handicraft Industry is a $100 billion industry worldwide making it 1.2% of the entire world handicraft market.

“Indigenous handicra & handlooms cherished aspect of Indian life; reflects na on's diversity & infinite crea vity.” ‐Pranab Mukherjee President, India

 Flipkart and NIFT have tied up to boost the handicraft sector by integrating the local 40000 weavers and artisans of Varanasi for end consumers.

 The Govt. of India has proposed to set up a Hastkala Academy for the preser vation, revival, and documentation of the handloom/handicraft sector in PPP mode in Delhi allocating Rs 30 Crore for it.

“We must increase handicra s exports from Rs 17,000 crore to Rs 33,000 crore in the next three years .”

–K Sambasiva Rao Poli cian

“Corporate houses and PSUs can spend some of their CSR fund to adopt handloom and handicra s clusters and increase the viability of the sector " ‐S S Gupta, Development Commissioner (Handicra s)

02

Dastkar

SAFEGUARDING HERITAGE Dastkar is a private not-for-profit NGO established in 1981, working to support traditional Indian craftspeople, many of them women and village based, with the objective of helping craftspeople regain their place in the economic mainstream, in a country where the craft sector is second only to agriculture in providing employment.

Laila Tyabji “Staying in Indian metros and abroad, it is easy for any artisan or designer to question the substandard quality of artwork being produced by the rural craftsmen. While we are all lost in admiring the glorious artwork of the historical era, we certainly miss out on the fundamental point that today's craftsmen in rural areas do not even have the means to earn a livelihood, forget the apt environment for working.” Laila Tyabji, Chairperson and an active & regular voice in numerous craft, design and development forums at national and international governmental level.

Artisans at Dastkar Bangalore Nature Bazaar

Apart from revolutionizing the crafts industry, Laila is well known for her bohemian outlook, outspokenness and most of all, for her inimitable style, which has made her a famous proponent of the sari.

What They Do ?

In order to bring together craftspeople, producer groups, environmental organisations, social activists & cultural performers with urban consumers, students and international buyers, Dastkar works on: 

Advocating with governmental, non-governmental & foreign agencies;

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As a consultant, evaluator & resource provider to craftgroups

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As an organiser of direct retail marketing platforms in its popular Bazaars and Exhibitions bringing together craftspeople, producer groups, environmental organisations, social activists & cultural performers with urban consumers, students and international buyers.

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Assisting craftspeople through support service activities such as capacity building workshops, skills training, collaborative design innovation and product development.

Today Dastkar works with an ever growing family of more than 350 craftgroups and small producers, directly and indirectly affecting the lives of approximately 43,000 artisans from across 22 States of India.

Dastkar is a brand name for quality craft from genuine producers and the main focus remains the Indian urban retail market and customer.

‐ Rahul Jain

03

Revival of Crafts Through CSR Handicrafts in India can be traced back to 5000 years and has been representative of dignity, creativity, culture and skills of the local population. India's rich cultural diversity and heritage has been providing a unique and huge resource for developing craft products. Despite significant growth in the Handicrafts sector, it still remains unorganized with 23 million unorganized craftsmen.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the nation to link the handicraft industry with technology. He also believes that we should look at tourism and handicrafts as two different sectors rather while we should market and promote tourism and handicrafts together. On the context of promotion he said, “I understand that the time has come to take our products to the global market”. Even at the domestic circuit the industry is not promoted as such despite having diversified products from different parts of the country. One major factor is that the products are highly priced in the cities, which are beyond the reach of the people, belonging to the middle and lower middle class. The artisans lack awareness about new technology hence they are unable to modernize the sector.

Keeping in line with the constraints and challenges faced by this sector, the potential that remains is still crucial and can be employed for enhancing the country's export.

However, the road ahead is not easy and assistance from not only government but the corporate sector is essential. The need of the hour is to bring all the artisans and craftsmen under a common brand. Establishment of a special purpose vehicle bringing on all stakeholders including corporates will help in technical expertise, resource management and value chain management of the products. The corporations through their CSR expenditure should work towards development of infrastructure and common facilities, bringing in new technology and providing adequate skills to the artisans and craftsmen in the rural and semi-urban areas.

Corporations must utilize their market reach to help establish organized platform for product sale. There is a rise in demand of Indian handicrafts in North America and European markets. It can be a win-win situation for both corporations and artisans where the artisans work on development of products and the corporate houses focus on product marketing. However, a point to note is that the corporations should also keep in mind that tourism and handicrafts should go hand in hand and developing handicraft hubs near tourist destinations will be a game changer. CSR of the Ecommerce industry can adopt craft villages as part of their CSR policy. Internet can help reach products to far corners of the globe.

In the end, one can conclude that the time has come to revive India's heritage and culture and what better than the handicraft industry. The people would agree that the handicrafts from India are among the best pieces of art. Let's not ignore heritage…Let's not ignore crafts.

‐ Rahul Choudhury

04

A few Craft Villages in India…

Raghurajpur Puri Odisha The village has a community of artisans who product different varieties of handicrafts items such as Patta Paintings, Palm leaf engravings, Stone carvings, Paper made toys and masks, Wood carvings, Wooden toys, Cow-dung toys and Tasser Paintings etc. Perhaps nowhere else in India there is such a congregation of so many art works at one place.

Cholamandal Artists Village Injambakkam Chennai Tamil Nadu A commune of artists who live and work together, displaying their works across the world, the Cholamandal Artist's village was established in 1966 by KCS Paniker. With the distinction of being one of the few rare artists' commune to have not just survived but thrived successfully, today the simple rustic community has come a long way.

Andretta Kangra Himachal Pradesh At a distance of 13 km from the town, it was home to the famous artist, Sardar Shobha Singh and playwriter Norah Richards. There are amazing paintings in their private houses which are worth seeing. A famous center for pottery and crafts at Andretta and the craft society was started in 1983. It is a production studio which makes attractive earthen slipware, besides also providing a three month courses for aspiring potters.

Bhujodi Kutch Gujarat A small town just 8 km southeast of Bhuj, Bhujodi is a major textile center of Kutch, with the vast majority of the 1200 inhabitants involved in textile handicraft production. About a kilometer from Bhujodi is the Ashapura Crafts Park, set up by a corporate non-profit wing to help artisans display, sell their work and organize dance and music events on weekends. Shrujan is a local non-profit set up 40 years ago to allow women to market their work better and earn a better living from it. The Shrujan campus is an interesting place to visit, with embroidery exhibits, a production center and excellent examples of local architecture with environmental awareness in mind.

05

Fiinobservation of International Days World AIDS Day

Human Rights Day

1 December

10 December

The world has done enormously well to curb HIV/AIDS, yet even today we do not have a permanent cure and prevention strategy for the killer disease. India has also managed to reduce the spread, due to its constant effective and sincere prevention strategies through efficient national health programmes like National AIDS Control Programme. The advent of Anti Retro Viral Therapy (ART), in 2003, has also proven to be a boon for the people living with HIV/AIDS as it has considerably reduced the morbidity and mortality related to the disease. According to the department of AIDS control, India demonstrated an overall reduction of 57% in the annual new HIV infections from the year 2000 to 2011. It was also reported that antiretroviral therapy and its scale up has estimated to have saved over 1.5 lakhs lives till 2011 and in high prevalence states the estimated AIDS related deaths have decreased by 42% from 2007-2011.

Fiinovation understands an important cornerstone for addressing the problem of HIV epidemic in India is to deliver the message to the people that HIV/AIDS although not completely curable, is most certainly preventable. With hope of a better tomorrow, let us strive to bring some light to the challenging lives of people living with HIV/AIDS.

The understanding of Human rights is fairly new, with religion playing a crucial role in development of the notion that human beings have inviolable rights. The first instance can be sighted way back in the era of renaissance humanism in the Early Modern period. The European Wars of Religion and the Civil Wars of the 17th century gave this idea a new shape. The American Revolution, French Revolution and the World Wars led to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The Human Rights Day is celebrated every year since 1950, after the Assembly passed a resolution inviting all States and interested organizations. The theme for this year is 'Human Rights 365', encompassing the idea that every day is a Human Rights Day. The day celebrates the fundamental intention in the Universal Declaration that each one of us, across the globe, at all times is entitled to the full range of human rights, that human rights belong equally to each of us and bind us together as a global community with the same ideals and values. Innovative Financial Advisors Pvt. Ltd. advocates human rights perspective across all development initiatives.

They believe through communication and technology we can end discrimination and ensure dignity for all.

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Who We Are Fiinovation, a research based organization, is an integrated solution enabler in the CSR and sustainability domain. It is focused towards enhancing quality across organizational value chain through meaningful innovation thereby ensuring sustainability. It is Asia's first proposal research laboratory wherein research is focused primarily on four sectors, which include health, education, livelihood and environment. The practices: CSR-CSO Partnership, CSR Policy Design & Development, Programme Management, Impact Assessment and Sustainability Reporting help provide simple solutions to their partners.

Fiinovation 24/30, Ground Floor, Okhla Industrial Estate, Phase III New Delhi - 110020 Phone: 011-42332200 | Fax : 011-42332205 website: www.fiinovation.co.in | Email: media@fiinovation.co.in