RAIPUR : Artisans and handicraft workers are not breathing easy in Chattisgarh. For some time, they have been losing money on products; now jobs too.With sales of tribal artifacts sold by government-owned emporiums falling steeply from `6 crore in 2018-19 to `3 crore now, demand has been steadily falling, rendering many artisans jobless and with no money to buy their next meal.The primary reason for the decline is the high GST which has spiked input costs of the age-old and priceless Bastar tribal arts, seen as a “vanishing” traditional craft.
With only occasional government support, artisans who transported their work from origin points, deep in Bastar’s interiors- to urban points of sale-find that they can ill afford carriage costs. A 12% GST couldn’t have come at a worse time.“Most of the raw materials sourced by artisans earlier were scrap with no taxes but now with 12% GST on inputs, cost of finished products have gone up, affecting sales. Many artisans have given up on already,” said Anil Lunkad, working as mediator for Bastar artisans for over two decades.
Around 4,000 Bastar artisans who registered with government handicraft board to produce handicrafts, terracotta, bell metal products, cotton fabrics, wooden carvings, besides decorative bamboo craft, have less orders now, forcing many to migrate to other occupations as rickshaw pullers, hawking newspapers or working as daily wage labourers.
“Earlier, as artists, we easily earned `500-700 daily but the inflation and taxes imposed in recent years has reduced us to poverty. Now I work in a garment shop for `350 daily,” said Besra Ludhar in Jagdalpur. Similarly, Dhani Ram known for his skill in terracotta art now works as a mason.
It was largely due to a score of private players who supported craftsmen to market their products that turnover of tribal artworks had touched `20 crore mark. That’s gone. “In Kondagaon-the arts hub of Chattisgarh- artisans struggle to survive post demonetisation and GST. Over 50% have already abandoned their traditional work,” Shabbir Nag, heading a team of 30 artisans in north Bastar said.
Officials of Chhattisgarh Hastshilp Vikas Board and Chhattisgarh Matikala Board admit that GST has been a huge setback for Bastar. “Though production continues, sales have dwindled due to forced high prices of finished products,” claimed J L Marawi, marketing manager.“Why should there be high GST on products that impact livelihoods in a rural economy? It has killed arts and livelihoods. There should be minimum or total exemption in the larger interests of tribals,” averred Sudhakar Khalko, Managing Director of Chhattisgarh Hastshilp Vikas Board and the state Matikala Board.