Telangana handicrafts to sell online via Amazon

Telangana State Handicrafts Development Corporation (TSHDC) will tie up with e-commerce major Amazon to sell products online in its effort to build its trademark "Golkonda". TSHDC vice chairman and managing director Shailaja Ramaiyer said some of the major Telangana handicrafts including 'Dokra', 'Bidri' crafts, 'Nirmal' artworks, Cheriyal paintings, pearls and brass-ware would be put up on the online platform to start with.

"There are several more, based on the response from the public, we will see if we can expand (the product range on offer) further," Shailaja told PTI here. She said the tie-up will take place tomorrow. Stressing that the products available on the portal are hand-made and not factory-produced, she said, "These are not machine-made products, so can't be replicated again and again. We are looking at niche products."

After creation of Telangana, it was mutually agreed that the successor State of Andhra Pradesh would retain the erstwhile trademark of "Lepakshi", while Telangana unveiled its brand "Golkonda" for handicrafts. "We are now going to build a new brand with trademark of 'Golkonda' (for Telangana handicrafts products)," she said.

But the online foray comes at a time when several crafts are "languishing" in the state, which has some 55 handicrafts clusters across the state with a total of 1.2 lakh artisans working in the sector. Shailaja listed glass-blowing, stone-carving and Himroo among "languishing" crafts in the state. "Stone-carving is one craft that is going to die with the way things are in Telangana," she said, adding that only a handful of artisans are involved in such craft now.

"Today, there is only one person in Hyderabad who is into glass-blowing craft and he too works as an electrician as his primary passion does not get him enough money for living. We don't have the wherewithal to train more people and get them to understand the craft. TSHDC is reeling under manpower crunch," Shailaja said. On "Lepakshi" showrooms in Delhi and Kolkata which continue to be jointly owned by the two governments, she said, "We are also stagnating as no decision is coming on these showrooms. Both governments have to arrive at a decision," she said.