The Handicrafts Sector plays a significant & important role inthe countrys economy. It provides employment to a vast segment of craftpersonsin rural & semi urban areas and generates substantial foreign exchange forthe country, while preserving its cultural heritage. Handicrafts have greatpotential, as they hold the key for sustaining not only the existing set ofmillions of artisans spread over length and breadth of the country, but alsofor the increasingly large number of new entrants in the crafts activity.Presently, handicrafts contribute substantially to employment generation andexports. The Handicraft sector has, however, suffered due to its beingunorganized, with the additional constraints of lack of education, low capital,and poor exposure to new technologies, absence of market intelligence, and apoor institutional framework. In spite of these constraints, sector haswitnessed a significant growth of 3 % annually. Some of the promising areas in the crafts sector during the Xth Five Year Plan had been:
- Exports continued togrow for high value-added crafts products.
- Consumer tastes changed rapidly on account of economic liberalization.
- Focus on quality and product diversification with increasingconsumer awareness.
- Increasing challenge offered by availability of mass-produced competing product lines using different rawmaterials (often man-made) and mechanized production techniques.
- Government policy envisaged a greater role for NGOs, and participation of private resources both human & financial.
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