Handicraft and metal items on display at a fair. File picture

Ranchi, June 25: The time has come to select the best from the rest.

Artisans working in the fields of handicraft and handloom would soon be selected for national awards under the Union ministry of textiles. Nominations for the award would be sent soon and the function is scheduled to be held in October.

It is for the first time that state artisans would get an opportunity to win a national award from the development commissioner of handicraft and handloom and the Union ministry of textiles.

Entries have started pouring in and around 100 artisans from across the country have already submitted their handicraft and handloom items with application forms.

The areas of expertise to qualify for the national award include jute, dokra, woodcraft, woollen rugs, tribal jewellery and tribal textiles, among others. The winner would get Rs 50,000, a copper plaque and an angavastaram.

A.K Sharan, the assistant director of the office of development commissioner, handicraft marketing and service extension centre, said the objective of the national award is to give recognition to master craftspersons and weavers, who have made an outstanding contribution in terms of excellence of craftsmanship and development of craft.

So far, no artisan of the state has won the award. “In 1994, Manoj Mishra received the national merit certificate in woodcraft. He got a cash amount of Rs 10,000,” Sharan said.

The selection process for the award has now begun. “We have a three-tier procedure. Nominees are selected on the state-level and then on the zonal level,” Sharan added.

“We will start the selection process from tomorrow. There will be a committee comprising five to six members at both the state and zonal levels. Final selection for the national award will be based on the recommendations of the selection committee at both the levels. This would be sent to the Union ministry of textiles where a centralised selection committee has been formed,” Sharan informed. It is expected that around 80 artisans from across the states would be conferred with the award.

Thomas Bhengra, an artisan and resident of Kokar, who specialises in wood-carving, said: “We don’t earn much and the prize money can’t give us enough financial support either,” Bhengra added.

B. Choudhary, the secretary of the Chhotanagpur Craft Development Society (CCDS), said the award would help identity for the awardees.

He further said there are around 10 such artisans in Khunti, Hazaribagh, Ranchi and Loharadaga who deserve to win.

“They have been in this field for the past 30-35 years but have not received any recognition,” Choudhary added.