IIM-L: Merge handloom, handicraft in Varanasi to take on Chinese competition

A team of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM)-Lucknow has recommended the merger of the departments of handloom and handicraft for better coordination and supervision, replacing Chinese silk for giving strength to the Indian yarn during weaving, intensification of silk, and exploring the feasibility of extension in and around Varanasi.

In its final presentation on Varanasi’s district development plan (DDP) before the department for the promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT), the IIM-L has also recommended maintaining a database of the weavers and agencies on raw material, production, and export stage.

Pricing strategy, new designs with copyrights to avoid duplicity of products, bridging the gap in pre-production and post-production skills, and improvement in user experience through search engine optimization (SEO) on the online websites to understand the demands of consumers better have also been recommended.

Team leader, Dr Chandra Mohan Mishra said, “All the areas in which employment and income can be increased further, have been elaborated in the final presentation by suggesting the nature of the intervention required in different sectors, including silk products, glass beads, tourism, agriculture and horticulture, fisheries, livestock and dairy, handicrafts, carving on wood and stone.” Mishra said in a bid to accelerate the economic growth of the districts, the Central government has initiated DDP on a pilot basis in Visakhapatnam, Muzaffarpur, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Sirmaur, and Varanasi.

Regarding the tourism sector, the presentation has recommended calculation of footfall of tourists by calculating the value contribution by classifying the tourists according to the duration of stay and average spending per day, developing mini circuits and packaged tours by incorporating ghats in Varanasi, Ayodhya, Vindhyachal and Chitrakoot, the introduction of package tours to increase the stay and spending of tourists in the region.

Mishra said works like the development of Rudraksh international convention center, Sarnath, Vindhyachal, and Ramnagar have already been completed or are in progress.

In the Agri sector, the IIM-L strongly recommended the promotion of organic farming and diversification to high-value crops, renewal of allotted ponds, technological intervention for productivity and production. 

“It also highlighted the possibility in fishery and dairy sector by recommending measures like introduction of high-density fish cultivation in ponds, the fish market at Chandauli to facilitate export, encashing huge gap between demand and supply of milk in the Varanasi district and the surrounding region which requires breed improvement, fodder management, and animal healthcare improvement,” he added. 

Mishra said all interventions must be captured quantitatively and qualitatively to track the district economy’s progress.