Former Prime Minister of India - Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee

PM's inaugural speech at First World Conference on Handmade Carpets

~I am pleased to be with you here on a platform of exceptional relevance -- the first ever World Conference on Handmade Carpets. I welcome the distinguished guests from across the globe who have graced the conference with their presence. I wish to appreciate the efforts of the Ministry of Textiles and the Carpet Export Promotion Council of India for organising this conference.

Diversity is the hallmark of human society. Each constituent of mankind has its own unique cultural and artistic heritage. This uniqueness manifests in many ways, one of them being the tradition of handicrafts.

Every profession is a craft, since it requires its own specific skill. Professions change from time to time, and so do the skills. But it is in handicrafts that we see a relative continuity, a repository of creative tradition that runs for unbroken centuries and, in some cases, for millennia. Thus, handicrafts serve as an expression of people’s cultural and historical identity.

The hands engaged in handicrafts are invariably gifted. They are capable of blending beauty and ingenuity into every kind of raw material -- stones, timber, natural fibres, wool, silk or metal. They are capable of producing an infinite variety of creative products.

This tradition of creative continuity is most strikingly seen in hand woven carpets. A simple mass of fibres is turned into a dazzling display of beauty when the workmanship of carpet weavers weaves magic into them with intricate designs, marvellous motifs, plethora of colours and subtle shades. The carpet weaver is not merely a worker, but a worker-artist -- one who writes poetry with every knot that he ties, one who paints a painting with every yarn of wool and silk.

The true value of such carpets far transcends the price they command at the global marketplace. Rather, it resides in the awe and admiration they evoke. And whenever such carpets are admired, the admiration naturally goes to the nameless weavers who have painstakingly produced them.

This is the essential difference between mass-produced goods and handicrafts. The human labour, even in a fine mass-produced item, is rarely noticed. If it evokes admiration, it is for the technology used, and not for the hands that used the technology. In contrast, the creative labour in a nice handicraft is invariably acknowledged and admired.

Therefore, at this First World Conference of Handmade Carpets, let us jointly pay tribute to the creativity of all the craftspeople and carpet-weavers around the globe. Let us applaud the crafts traditions of all the countries. They are a part of the priceless artistic and cultural heritage of mankind. May this conference become an important landmark in preserving and promoting this heritage.

Friends, I am told that the handmade carpet weaving industry is facing many challenges the world over. This conference is a good platform to deliberate on these challenges and to chart a course for the industry’s development in the future.

In this context, I have a few thoughts to share with you. Throughout history, the cultural and artistic traditions of nations have influenced each other. This is true in carpet weaving as well. For example, the carpets made in Kashmir, which are famous all over the world, display a strong influence of the Persian tradition. Therefore, in contemporary times too, all stakeholders should work in a spirit of international cooperation. The more sustained is the cooperation, the greater is the benefit for all.

In this context, India would be happy to offer space and other facilities to house the Secretariat of the World Forum for Handmade Carpets proposed by the world industry leaders.

India is committed to provide training, design, technology inputs and such other infrastructure support as are required for the handmade carpet industry to contribute to growth in world trade. We are prepared to work out methods for establishment of raw materials bank to enable easy access to quality raw material and eco-friendly colours. This would help in ensuring product quality and boosting global demand for the handmade carpet.

Global cooperation would be particularly beneficial in human resource development. Traditionally, weaving and handicrafts in most countries have been specific to certain castes, tribes and communities. The skills are handed down from generation to generation. However, these skills can be made far more productive with investment in human capital. General education, training in appropriate modern technologies and use of new materials, and knowledge of modern business practices can significantly contribute to the growth of the industry and earnings of craftspeople.

There is another reason why greater attention to education and training has become necessary. We see a trend whereby, for a variety of reasons, the younger generation in families of craftspeople are drifting away from their traditional occupations. This trend needs to be checked and reversed as much as possible. We can achieve this if policy makers, industry, administrators and craftspeople’s own guilds can make handicrafts and handmade carpet weaving financially attractive, professionally satisfying, intellectually stimulating, and socially prestigious.

Towards this end, in India we have made a small beginning by setting up the Indian Institute of Textiles and Carpet Technology recently in Bhadohi, in Uttar Pradesh, which is famous for its carpet industry. New Zealand has come forward to join us in this endeavour by introducing a distance-learning programme for skill upgradation. We shall be happy to offer this platform to any country and to the industry on a mutually agreed upon framework of cooperation. I appeal to the industry and business houses to consider sharing the cost of education, research and training by forming a corpus fund.

There is another area that needs our urgent attention. Often, while admiring the beauty of handmade carpets, we tend to push under the carpet the problems of carpet weavers. I would like to quote here a line from the book Visvakarma’s Children – Stories of India’s Craftspeople by Jaya Jaitly, an activist who has done commendable work to promote handicrafts and the cause of craftspeople. She writes, ~While crafts best reflect a nation’s cultural heritage, the condition of its craftspeople reflects the concern of the people for that heritage.~

Viewed from this angle, it is obvious that we have a lot to do to improve the living and working conditions of our craftspeople.

Recently, the Government has unveiled a new credit card facility, on the lines of the highly successful Kisan Credit Card scheme, for weavers and artisans. Under this scheme, weavers will have easy access to bank credit. This should enable carpet weavers to tide over their working capital problems.

We have also launched an insurance scheme to provide social security to all artisans and weavers in the age group of 18-60 years. I am informed that the carpet industry has come forward to be a partner in this endeavour.

The Government has taken some important steps to boost carpet weaving in Jammu & Kashmir through a package for integrated development and export promotion.

My last point is about the employment potential of handmade carpet industry, both in India as well as in other parts of the world. Handicrafts provide large-scale employment, especially to women and to those belonging to disadvantaged sections of society. India alone employs around 2.5 million weavers, 60% of whom are concentrated in Uttar Pradesh in the famous Bhadohi-Mirzapur-Varanasi Carpet Belt.

How do we boost employment in this industry, while simultaneously expanding its size and export profile? Today this is mainly a rural-based cottage industry. It is highly unorganised, fragmented and therefore, deprived of basic infrastructural facilities. I would like the Ministry of Textiles, along with other stakeholders, to prepare a time bound action plan to achieve a quantum growth in India’s handmade carpet industry, with a specific focus on increasing employment opportunities in the industry. For its success, we will have to attract new private sector investment. Sustained R&D efforts will have to be made. Use of IT will have to be intensified. In addition, you should learn from the best practices and successful strategies adopted in other countries.

Friends, I conclude by saying that, let us learn a little bit from the way a weaver weaves the carpet. Before he begins his work, he has a complete design and plan in mind. He draws from an inner source of inspiration. And when he begins to execute his work, he does so with amazing dexterity and devotion. Similarly, let us also design a good strategy and weave it, knot by knot, through global co-operation.

With these words, I am pleased to inaugurate your conference and wish it success.~