Low sales worry artisans at Surajkund Crafts Mela, visitors rue lack of variety, exorbitant prices

An artisan sells his handcrafted wooden products in Surajkund Mela.
| Photo Credit: ASHOK KUMAR

Engaged in wood craft work, Mohammad Shoaib and his brother Rehan Ahmed, belonging to Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur, are regulars to the Surajkund International Crafts Mela for the last two decades.

Both brothers earn well from the fair, which is held for a fortnight every February in Haryana’s Faridabad. However, this year has been disappointing so far. “We eagerly wait for this crafts mela every year, but the response this time has been lukewarm,” said the 55-year-old. On display in his stall are a variety of goods — combs, casseroles, trays, jugs, coasters, rolling pins and piggy banks — all made from the authentic sheesham wood. He says, “We sold goods worth ₹7 lakh last year, but the sales this time have been only one-fourth of what it was the previous year.”

“The crowd seems less this time… probably for the Kumbh Mela,” Mr. Shoaib hazarded a guess.

He also felt that the customers’ sentiment across the country was low and this made him a little worried that things could become difficult for artisans like him if the trend continued.

‘Online products replacing originals ones’

Echoing his views, Pradip Kumar Ray, selling cane and bamboo craft work, said he had sold goods worth only ₹1,200 in the entire day. The 63-year-old had taken up the bamboo crafts work in his teens to support his family after his father suffered a loss in the transport business. A former trainer at the Directorate of Handloom, Handicrafts and Sericulture of Tripura, Mr. Ray returned to the crafts fair this year after a gap of over seven years. but surprisingly found the crowd was “missing”. “In 2017, when we had set up our stall, the response was overwhelming. But there is hardly any crowd this time,” said Mr. Ray, who has won a national award winner for his bamboo products.

His wife, Savitri, blamed the situation on the “low-quality” craft items available online, which, she felt, had “ruined the market for the genuine handicraft workers like us”. She said that it took a great deal of skill and several days of hard work to make fine quality crafts items, but people found the prices too high and were not willing to pay.

In an added financial burden for the artisans like the Rays, unlike previous years, they were not provided the free-of-cost accommodation by the Mela authorities this time. “Now, we have taken a room on rent for ₹1,500. We cook on our own,” said Mr. Ray.

‘Dwindling paying power’

However, some artisans said that there was no difference in the number of visitors to the fair. Bashir Ahmed of Kashmir said he had sold over a dozen pashmina shawls last year with the price of each ranging from ₹15,000-₹30,000, but none this time so far. He felt that there was a “good crowd”, but the people’s capacity to pay had dwindled. “It could be because of an economic slowdown,” said Mr. Ahmed.

The visitors rued that there was not enough variety this time and the prices quoted by the artisans, too, were “exorbitant”.

‘Nothing exclusive’

Accompanied by her husband and two daughters, Namrata, visiting the Mela for the first time, said the goods are not “too different” from what is available at Dilli Haat and the India International Trade Fair held in Delhi every year.

Business analyst Kuldeep Sharm said the goods must be certified by some agency to assure the customers about their quality and authenticity. “The organisers should ensure that the prices are fixed,” suggested Mr. Sharma.

Mela Assistant Nodal Officer Harvinder Singh refuted the claims on the number of visitors going down. On accommodation to the artisans, Mr. Singh said the Mela authority had stopped community living accommodation after the pandemic.