A way forward

Students Asav Kumar, Vrinda Sonkiya, Aryaman Sonkiya and their team have recently launched their online platform CraftConnect that aims to help rural artisans and urban buyers shake hands through the sale of handicrafts. This portal will connect artisans from Jaipur and Chandigarh to a global market, helping artisans get the real value for their goods (by circumventing exploitive middlemen) and significanlty expand their market reach.

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Through this portal, they aim to empower artisans. While working with the NGO WODE Foundation, they got the chance to interact with several artisans and understand their issues. “We have very limited reach so if we don’t interact with the middlemen, our products are only stuck within the small village we live in,” Rupal Devi, an artisan from Mahapura commented.

With the mission to reduce rural poverty, transform the lives of these artisans and preserve Indian heritage, CraftConnect is presently connected to a little over 200 artisans from remote locations across Rajasthan and Punjab. Even though their work is pivotal in the preservation of Indian cultural values, these artisans live in temporary houses and survive on single meal a day. “As we continue on this journey, we are overwhelmed by the dignity, grace and unflinching tenacity of the artisans. For them, handicrafts is more than just an art form or a means of livelihood,” Vrinda commented.

“Seeing their smiles as they received the revenue from their first sales on the portal is huge motivation,” says Asav. Currently, their catalogue comprises of several meenakari items, bandarwal and khambadi-style goods and other Rajasthani and Punjabi specialties. Their reach has expanded to the market in Jaipur, Delhi, Agra, Chandigarh and even Tokyo. — TNS