CRAFTING A REVIVAL

THE UTTAR PRADESH GOVERNMENT'S ODOP SCHEME HAS PLUCKED CRAFTS FROM NEAR EXTINCTION, GIVEN ARTISANS GUARANTEED INCOME AND CONTRIBUTED TO THE STATE'S EXPORT GROWTH THROUGH GOOD MARKETING

- PRASHANT SRIVASTAVA

Two f lower-shaped silver pieces, their simple and elegant central design speckled with lapis lazuli blue—the gulabi meenakari cufflinks and a matching brooch, the latter with a peacock motif, were chosen with care before Prime Minister Narendra Modi gifted them to US President Joe Biden and US first lady Jill Biden at the G-7 summit in Germany in late June. Then there were the pieces of black pottery, polished to a subdued gleam and looking as distinguished as objets d’art from the palace of an ancient potentate. The recipient was Japanese PM Fumio Kishida. Other leaders like French president Emmanuel Macron, Italian premier Mario Draghi and German chancellor Olaf Scholz got ornate zari zardozi embroidered boxes, marble inlay table tops, and handmade tea sets. The golden thread that stitches these treasures together is that they were all created exclusively by Uttar Pradesh’s artisans, working under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s ambitious programme to revive traditional craft—the ODOP (One District One Product) scheme. It has not only given a fillip to neglected crafts, the scheme has also set the tone for a steady increase in exports from UP. It comes under the MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises) department.