Artisans make bamboo items in Bistupur. Picture by Srinivas

Jamshedpur, Jan. 5: A career in bamboo craft would help several artisans realise their dreams.

Take Ban Bihari Mahali for instance. He is a bamboo artisan who earns between Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 per month if he works everyday but now he hopes of turning this figure to Rs 3,000.

His dreams have taken shape after the state government decided to open 25 bamboo processing training centres this month.

The centres would come up in Ranchi, East Singhbhum and Seraikela-Kharsawan. The project aims to help the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe get professional training in the art.

Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Ichagarh, Chandil and Dumaria will house these training centres in collaboration with Guwahati-based Cane and Bamboo Technology Centre.

“The three-month long training would give an opportunity to the artisans and help them develop their skill. It will also teach them how to market their products. The demand of bamboo products is on the rise and this would be an important step towards promoting the craft. The project is the brainchild of deputy chief minister of the state Sudhir Mahto,” said Dhirendra Kumar, the special secretary with state department of industries.

The project is estimated to cost Rs 3 crore in the first year. Initially, 450 artisans in groups of 20 would be allotted a shed for the training programme. The artisans would be taught measurement, free-hand drawing, treatment and preservation of bamboo, mat weaving and furniture making for export.

“We have selected these districts after the Institute of Forest Productivity, Ranchi, claimed that raw material (bamboo) was easily available in these places. Bamboo artisans, who earn between Rs 40 and Rs 50 per day, will now be able to earn more,” said Kumar.

The artisans will also be provided a platform through Jharcraft, a corporation for development of handlooms, handicraft, under the department of industries, in the initial months.

“Bamboo products are difficult to sell until it needs a perfect finish and primary training hardly helps,” said Binod Manna, who is currently training bamboo products at Kalamandir in Bistupur.

The artisans hope that they will double their earnings soon. “There is no market in the villages. If I work every-day continuously I make something around Rs 1,000 to 1,500 which is not suffici- ent. After the training I can make Rs 3,000 and can send my children to school,” said Mahali.