Soon, buy Chamba rumaal, Kullu shawl on Amazon

Pratibha Chauhan

Advertisement

Tribune News Service

Shimla, June 24

The online sale of Himachali handicrafts like Kangra miniature paintings, exquisitely embroidered Chamba rumaal and Kullu-Kinnauri shawls on Amazon and Flipkart will open up global markets for artisans, who have been hit hard by Covid.

The Himachal Pradesh Handloom and Crafts Corporation will sign an MoU for facilitating the sale of Himachal handicrafts on their sites by the end of this month. The corporation will facilitate the sale of products made by weavers and artisans from across the state on the two popular online shopping sites.

“We have been exploring the possibility of providing a global platform to our artisans so that they can get good prices for their products and showcase and market their craft,” says Bikram Singh, Industries Minister. “We are hopeful that the online sale of their products will open channels for the artisans, many of whom depend on their art for a livelihood,” he added.

Though the artisans are well-versed in their art there will be handholding by the staff of the two online sites to provide them training regarding selection, marketing, accounting and packaging of their products as per the market requirements.

“We will make clusters of artists for giving training, which will be undertaken physically provided the Covid situation permits or else it will be done virtually,” says Kumad Singh, MD, Himachal Pradesh Handloom and Crafts Corporation.

She said to begin with the products to be made available on the online sites had been selected by government officials. Many products like Kinnaur and Kullu shawls, Chamba rumaal and Kangra tea have already been accorded the Geographical Indications (GI) tag, authenticity stamp.

It is based on the response for these products that more items would be made available for online sale. Weavers, painters and artisans used to sell their products at exhibitions, both in the state and outside, and many of them used to export their stuff prior to the outbreak of Covid. However, now with the pandemic still not over, they have been severely hit and some of them are faced with the problem of sustaining their families.

The government explored the possibility of a tie-up with these online shopping sites as they felt that Covid could result in many of these arts being pushed on the brink of extinction with no buyers and demand due to the repeated lockdowns.

PRODUCTS FOR SALE

Other items that will be available for sale include Kangra miniature paintings; metal thaalis and embroidered leather slippers; woollen jackets, woven mufflers, wood carving items, bamboo products and sketches of heritage buildings and famous temples of the hill state.