The dawn of the new 'swadeshis'

The groundwork of advocacy groups like the Graama Sewa Sangha is powering craftspeople in their fight for a consistent livelihood, writes Geetanjali Krishna

At a time when Make in India has become a popular catchphrase, the actual makers in India, primarily rural craftpeople who use their skills to eke out livelihoods, are bogged down by two basic problems. First, there isn’t enough respect for the hand work they do, which often results in their having to compete in a price-driven market with cheaper, machine-made goods. Second, being primarily village-based, craftspeople even across a single state, let alone the country, are struggling to find a common voice and common market. For the last six years, Graama Sewa Sangha, GSS, a Karnataka-based civil society group has been working to promote the cause of the handmade sector, seeking mainly to connect rural craftspeople with urban markets. In the last few months, however, GSS has taken on a larger, more national-level role with its campaign protesting the levying of GST on handmade goods and has managed to leverage the widespread discontent amongst craftspeople across the country into a single movement. “For the first time since independence, a tax has been imposed on all handmade products,” says Prasanna Heggodu, founder of the Sangha. “It is a topsy-turvy, pro-city and anti-poor regime in which cars and fairness creams have become cheaper, while a handloom kurta, mat, pot and plough shall cost more.” Heggodu reminds us that India’s handmade sector isn’t all about weaving fashionable textiles or home décor items that are sold in emporia: “This sector mainly produces inexpensive items of daily use to the poor such as brooms, earthen pots, iron ware and more. And these are being taxed by the GST regime.”

GSS’s campaign has been unconventional but successful. The group has used ticketed performances of theatre (Heggodu is a senior theatre director and playwright), music and dance to not only spread awareness about the cause of craftspeople, but also to raise funds for their programmes. Several prominent artistes and film personalities such as Shyam Benegal, Kannada actor/politician Mukhyamantri Chandru, Pallavi Arun, MS Sathyu and others have expressed solidarity for their cause. GSS has used social media effectively to highlight this as well as tell people about their main activity — a weekly santhe (rural market) where artisans and craftspeople sell their products directly. “We are now asking people to show their support by buying these mostly inexpensive, handmade products with cash, so that neither party pays GST on the transaction,” explains Heggodu. They refer to it as the “Tax Denial Satyagraha”, and it has gained traction across the country thanks to social media. 

The struggle of craftspeople for swadeshi pride is ongoing through weekly santhes, public meetings and performances.

“A group of us first organised a 15-day Satyagraha in Badanwal, a small village in Mysuru district, in 2015 to protest the redefinition of “handloom” to include mechanised processes and the repeal of the Handloom Reservation Act,” says Heggodu. “We wanted to get more and more people to understand how regenerating the crafts sector could result in the socio-economic regeneration of rural economies,” says he. “Also, we wanted to reinstate cultural pride in swadeshi, handmade products that had united the country during the freedom struggle.” On the final day of the Satyagraha, the activists were amazed when 8,000-10,000 people gathered in solidarity there for the Sustainability Convention they organised. “It made us realise how powerful a united effort could be as opposed to individual, isolated protests,” says he. 

Indeed, Graama Sewa Sangha, along with other crafts and advocacy groups like Dastkar Andhra and Malkha India, have compelled the Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to place their demand for zero GST on handmade products in front of the ministry of finance. “This will give impetus to rural economies without much burden on the tax exchequer,” says he. Heggodu and his cohorts would like to see more craftspeople organise themselves into cooperatives, which would enable them to get marketing and design support, as well as better prices. Further, they want the government to define as “handmade” any product which is at least two-thirds handmade. Meanwhile, their struggle for swadeshi pride is ongoing through weekly santhes, public meetings and performances. “We won’t rest,” says he, “until the government finally recognises the importance of the Indian handmade sector and treats craftspeople as entrepreneurs who make a positive contribution to the GDP.” 

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