Phulkari of Sangrur to get Nabard boost

Vijay C Roy

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Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 5

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard), the lead financial institution for rural development, plans to promote Punjab’s widely known craft phulkari and support farmers of the region in several farm and non-farm activities, including environment protection.

The bank has identified 43 villages in Sangrur district to provide support to Punjabi women engaged in phulkari works. An on-ground survey has already been conducted, Nabard CGM JPS Bindra said.

“As per the survey, most of the women engaged in phulkari are having low income due to thin margins. It is observed that these artisans are not aware of changing patterns and designs, which is must to remain relevant in the market. Nabard intends to help them in product development and marketing so that they earn a better margin,” he said.

The bank, which has been aggressively providing assistance to the Farmer Producer Organisation (FPOs) for agricultural activities, is also supporting non-agricultural activities of rural areas by creating off-farm producer organisations (OFPOs), a relatively new concept in Punjab. The first such OFPO would be a phulkari cluster in Sangrur.

The bank will organise village artisans into an OFPO and help them in capacity building, business planning and providing marketing linkages. It will also help them in getting cheaper inputs as the survey revealed that most of the artisans do not get quality raw materials, including thread for embroidery.

“In the first phase, over 300 artisans will be selected. They will be given skill training on phulkari and subsequently awareness will be created on colour schemes and new designs, which have market in the urban and metro areas,” Bindra said. The banks will provide a grant of about Rs 40 lakh to each OFPO.

Nabard will initially support them for four years, which will involve other interventions like common facility centres and marketing linkages besides capacity building and designing. So far, the bank is promoting 91 FPOs in 19 districts in Punjab. Sangrur will have the first OFPO.

On the overall development of the rural economy of the region, Bindra said the bank is planning to launch a campaign on paddy straw management in around 3,000 villages covering 3 lakh hectares in the state during the kharif season.

Nabard has also sanctioned a project under National Adaptation Fund on the climate change for Rs 49 crore for crop residue management and crop diversification. It will cover all districts of the state.

Nabard’s package for Punjab (2018-19)

Rs 10,000 crore  Total package

Rs 2,900 crore  Capital formation

Rs 5,500 crore  Crop loan

Rs 673 crore  Infra assistance

Rs 49 crore Crop residue mgmt

About phulkari…

• A traditional embroidery craft of women in Punjab
• Also popular in Yamunanagar,  Ambala and Ganganagar
• Only these regions can claim GI tag for phulkari