Artisans constitute an important segment in Indian society. They represent the single largest element of continuity of the Lokavidya or the living traditions of sciences and technologies. The continuity has been attributed to the survival of subsistence, households of simple commodity producers, surviving by dint of superhuman exploitation of family labour and undergoing continuous immiseration.’ The artisan as a practitioner of Lokavidya, therefore, became a tragic hero fighting his lone battle against the machines. The artisan constitute an organic element of Indian society and played an extremely important role in its transition. Even in these days of globalization and open market, their relevance in south Asian economy could hardly be denied.
There are approximately 7 million artisans in India engaged in the production of crafts for their livelihood. The global crafts market present a golden opportunity for Indian craftsmen. The numbers of handicraft buyers are increasing day by day. The commission or profit of middlemen have also increased. Due to middlemen, the artisans never get complete money of their marvels. The middlemen buy the products from the artisans at the lowest price and sell it to the buyers at an exorbitant price. Thus the artisans becoming poor day by day.
Uthhan comes like a solution for the betterment of artisans. They launched a website and a phone app in different languages as per artisan convenience. This is important for artisans so that more and more customers can be reached in lesser time and can deliver the right handicraft products. Through this website of Uthhan, you can easily avail artifacts created by artisans within your budget. In this website, the artisans are registered and given an ID so that they can be identified. Volunteers of Uthhan give training also. Volunteers guide them to operate and upload the products in the website. After this, the artisans give detailed information about themselves and the artifacts will be uploaded to the platform along with photos. After this, the products are displayed on the website, subject to the approval from Uthhan team.
Chat services are available for both Artisans & volunteers, so that there should not be any communication barrier. Apart from this, there is a 24×7 helpline number. Uthhan remains the means of employment for the families of more than 10,000 artisans.
