In an initiative to bring traditions and culture together with a tinge of fashion, Jharcraft on Sunday launched a collection of jewellery made of lac and bamboo to the people of Jharkhand for the first time.
These ornaments are exclusively made by the women residing in the forests and rural areas who were trained by Jharcraft under its employment generation program.
These women have been trained so that more and more employment could be generated under the mission of Jharcraft— ‘Creating Opportunities, Changing lives’. According to the Jharcraft MD Dhirendra Kumar, more than 3 lack people have already been attached to Jharcraft and it looks forward to attract more people in the coming years.
“We have a mission to develop quality products so that we can sell them in the International markets. As we have plenty of bamboo and lac available in the state we decided to prepare products made out of bamboo and lac to generate employment to the people of Jharkhand,” said Kumar.
Initially, 10 women from Dumka district, who were already engaged in making lac jwellery by traditional methods were identified and sent to Jaipur to learn modern techniques of jewellery making from an artisan called Awaz Mohammed.
Mohammed had inherited the skills from his forefathers. These women will now be made master trainers whose skills will be utilized for training other women in the rural areas.
Similarly, women of the rural and remote areas are being trained in making bamboo jewellery and other bamboo products. According to Kumar, over 40,000 people, men and women all over the state are being trained in making bamboo products.
“With the help of bamboo designer Ajit Sen of Kerala, we have succeeded in preparing pre-fabricated structures of bamboo houses which could be shifted from one place to another,” said the MD.
According to Kumar, several self help groups have come forward to support the programme and Jharcraft looks forward to present 100 new designs per month of bamboo jewellery.
Kumar said that contributing to Saryu Development Project, Jharcraft has trained more than 3000 people in various trades and they look forward to train at least 20,000 more in the skills like weaving, sewing, apiculture, sericulture etc.
“Jharcraft even took over a honey-plant which was left defunct for years,” said Kumar.