Lok Sabha Question No. 3951 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-03-27
Subject: Tribal Art and Craft
Ministry: TRIBAL AFFAIRS
Asked by: PREM DAS RAI

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## (MINISTRY OF TRIBAL AFFAIRS) LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3951

TO BE ANSWERED ON 27.03.2017

## TRIBAL ART AND CRAFT

## 3951. SHRI PREM DAS RAI:

Will the Minister of TRIBAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:-

(a)     whether the Government is running programme and schemes to protect and conserve tribal art and craft in the country;

(b)      if so, the details thereof;

(c)     the total funds allocated and spent for the purpose during the last three years and   the current year, State/UT-wise; and

(d)     the other steps taken/being taken by the Government to preserve and promote traditional tribal heritage and culture in the country?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF TRIBAL AFFAIRS (SHRI JASWANTSINH BHABHOR)

(a) Yes, Madam.  The Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Limited (TRIFED) which is a cooperative society registered under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act and is under the administrative control of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, has been implementing the scheme namely ' Institutional Support for Development and Marketing of Tribal Products/Produce"to protect and conserve tribal art and craft in the country.

(b) TRIFED is organizing and participating in Tribal Artisan Melas, exhibitions like Aadishilps, Aadichitra, and Octave etc. to protect and conserve tribal art and craft in the country.    TRIFED has also been undertaking handicraft development training for tribal artisans.

The details of activities organized by the Government to protect and conserve tribal art and craft in the country is given at Annex.

(c) The total funds allocated and spent for the purpose under scheme "institutional support for development & marketing of tribal products/ produce" during the  last 3 years and current year is as under:

(Rs. In Lakhs)

| Year                      |   Funds Allocated |   Actual Expenditure/ Utilization |
|---------------------------|-------------------|-----------------------------------|
| 2013-14                   |           3430.81 |                           3012.63 |
| 2014-15                   |           3500    |                           3025.61 |
| 2015-16                   |           3500    |                           3500    |
| 2016-17 (upto 28.02.2017) |           3900    |                           2548.71 |

- (d) The  Ministry  extends  financial  assistance  to  Tribal  Cooperative  Marketing  Development Federation of India Ltd.(TRIFED) for organizing Tribal Artisan Mela(TAM), Aadishilp and Aadichitra to showcase various tribal art forms at National Level. Besides this, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs extends financial assistance to Tribal Research Institutes(TRIs) set up by the State  Governments/Union  Territories  under  the  Scheme  of  'Grants-in-aid  to  TRI'  with  the aim  to  preserve  and  promote  Tribal  culture,  heritage,  arts  and  crafts  through  Research  and Documentation. Under the scheme, funds are provided to TRIs to organize 'Exchange visits' for  the  Tribal  to  visit  other  parts  of  the  State/Country  with  the  objective  of  getting  wider perspective of culture and traditions.  In addition, TRIs also organize 'Tribal Festivals' for the preservation,  promotion  and  dissemination  of  tribal  art  and  culture  and  traditional  sports events.

## Statement in reply to part(b) of Lok Sabha Unstarred No.3951 for 27.03.2017 by Shri Prem Das Rai  regarding  'Tribal Art and Craft'.

The details of the activities under the scheme of 'Institutional Support for Development and Marketing of Tribal Products/Produce' are as under:

## 1. Retail Marketing Development Activity:

TRIFED  is  the  only  body  of  the  Government  of  India  at  the  national  level  engaged  in marketing  development  of  tribal  products  including  art  &  craft  items.  TRIFED  has  been  marketing tribal products through its own shops called ' TRIBES India ' & through the outlets of the state emporia on consignment basis.  Starting with a single shop in New Delhi in 1999, TRIFED now has 30 shops of its own and 13 outlets on consignment basis located all over India.

## 2. Sourcing of tribal products:

TRIFED has developed  a  system  of  sourcing  products  of  art  &  craft  made  by  empanelled tribal  suppliers.  The  suppliers  comprise  of  individual  tribal  artisans,  tribal  SHGs,  Organisations/ Agencies/NGOs  working  with  tribals,  who  are  empanelled  as  suppliers  of  TRIFED  as  per  the guidelines for empanelment of suppliers.  The products procured by TRIFED are then sold through its marketing platform of 'Tribes India' showroom.  Such tribal products are categorized under --

-  Metal Craft
-  Tribal Textiles
-  Tribal Jewellery
-  Tribal painting
-  Cane & Bamboo
-  Terracotta & Stone Pottery
-  Gift and Novelties &
-  Organic and Natural Food Products

## 3. Organizing Tribal artisan Mela (TAM)

In  order  to  enhance  the  number  of  tribal  suppliers  so  that  they  are  associated  with  Retail Operation,  TRIFED  organises  Tribal  Artisan  Mela  (TAM)  at  District/tehsil  level  as  an  exercise  to reach tribals located in the interior tribal areas and source tribal art and craft directly from the tribal from the tribal artisans/group of artisans.

## 4. Exhibitions:

TRIFED  also  organises  and  participates  in  exhibitions  for  promotion  and  development  of tribal product, the details of which are given below:

- o 'Aadishilp'  TRIFED  organises  National  Tribal  Craft  Expo  by  the  name  of  'Aadishilp',  in which  individual  tribal  artisans,  tribal  SHGs,  Agencies/Organizations  working  with  tribals  are invited to participate and showcase their rich tribal heritage. The main objective in holding these events is to provide an opportunity to tribal artisans to interact directly with art lovers for getting their  feedback  about  their  taste  and  preferences,  which  helps  them  in  modifying  their  product designs and creations accordingly..
- o 'Aadichitra'  TRIFED has  started  an  exhibition  by  the  name  of  'Aadichitra'  since  2010,  in which  tribal  paintings  like  Gond  from  Madhya  Pradesh,  Saora  from  Orissa,  Warli  from Maharashtra  and  Pithora  paintings  from  Gujarat,  are  exclusively  displayed  and  sold  for promotion of tribal painting. The tribal artists are also invited to demonstrate their skills during such exhibitions.
- o Octaveis a dance festival of North Eastern Region, organized by Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India.  TRIFED  has  collaborated  with  Ministry  of  Culture  to  organize  participation  of  tribal

artisans from North Eastern States in such events for promotion of tribal art and craft which are organized at various places across country.

- o Besides, TRIFED also participates in a number of exhibitions across the country for promotion and sale of tribal products.

## 5.    Handicraft Skill Development Activity:

TRIFED  had/has  been  undertaking  handicraft  development  trainings  for  tribal  artisans  in  5 modules which are as under:

-  Primary Level Training (PLT) - Aimed for fresh batch of 20 tribal artisans in which training on basic  techniques  of  craft  imparted  to  equip  them  for  producing  the  craft.  The  duration  of  the program is 3 months.
-  Advance Level Training (ALT) -  This training was meant for those tribal artisans who perform well  in  the  PLT  and  show  potential  of  becoming  craftsperson  of  a  better  quality,  whose craftsmanship was honed by design and technology inputs through a Reinforcement Training for 15 artisans for a period of 45 days. This training program has been discontinued since 2014-15 after introduction of Comprehensive Training Program (CTP) in 2013-14.
-  Comprehensive Training Program in Handicraft (CTP) - Revision of the Training programs was undertaken  during  the  year  2013-14  and  a  new  module  of  training  program  was  inducted  by merging the above two training programs,  which aimed at honing the skill of the semi-skilled tribal artisans to capacitate them for manufacturing quality craft items to be competitive in the market. This training program is for a Batch of 20 trainees with duration of 90 days with a view to upgrade their skill through design and technical inputs to enhance the marketability of their handicraft products and empower them for entrepreneurship development.
-  Design  Workshop  Training  (DWT)  for  a  Batch  of  20  Artisans,  who  are  already  supplier  to TRIFED, in 21 days   with a  view to hone their skill through design input on the basis  of the Market feedback to enhance the quality and marketability of their products.
-  Training of Trainers (TOT) which aims at creating a pool of Master Craftsperson out of those expert  artisans,  who  will  carry  the  craft  and  technology  to  those  artisans  whose  skill  need upgradation. The duration and the batch size vary as per the nature of the craft and availability of training resource.
-  Besides above, TRIFED has initiated a new concept of Product development programmes (PDPs) during the financial year 2016-17 for development of new products from the empanelled tribal artisans and artisans trained by TRIFED.

From the year 2015-16 TRIFED is only conducting 2 types of training i.e., Comprehensive Training Program in Handicraft (CTP) and Design Workshop Training (DWT).

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