Bankura, Feb. 5: The sale of handicrafts has dropped substantially in the demonetisation-hit season of fairs, a time thousands of artisans across Purulia and Bankura look to for a greater part of their annual income.
The Bengal government and private agencies organise fairs across the state in the winter months staring November. Rural artisans, folk singers and traders rely heavily on the income from the stalls they put up at the fairs.
Harendra Nath Rana, a Dokra artisan in Bankura who puts up a stall every year at Pous Mela in neighbouring Birbhum, said: "I usually sell products worth around Rs 50,000 at the fair every year. But this time, I could hardly earn Rs 20,000. Visitors to the Pous Mela hardly had any cash on them to pay traders like us. I went to several other fairs but the business was not all impressive."
The 42-year-old artisan also sells his products to several agencies in Calcutta. But the demand from Calcutta too has almost halved, he said.
Rana, the head of the Dokra artisans' association in Bankura, said the total business from putting up stalls in fairs this season was only worth Rs 8 lakh, as against Rs 25 lakh usually.
Dokra is an ancient form of metal casting in India, honed for over 4,000 years. In Bengal, Dokra handicraft is made only in Bikna in Bankura, giving livelihood to around 150 artisans.
The situation is similar for around 1,000 stone and terracotta artisans in Bankura.
"Last year, I had sold products worth around Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 every weekend to picnickers and tourists in the Susunia Hills. This time, it was not even half. Though my business has improved marginally over the past few days, I incurred a huge loss in December-January. Not only did the footfall of tourists thinned, those who came did not have cash," said Tarapada Karmakar, a 50-year-old artisan who owns a shop at the foothills in Susunia.
Over 200 stone craft artisans live in Susunia and its adjoining villages. Most of them rely on tourists and fairs organised by the government during the winter.
"We go to fairs and sell our products. But this time, the business has been so bad so that we have not been able to even hire stalls," said Biren Karmakar, 45.
The handicraft industry mostly comprises artisans from rural areas, where currency plays an important role for daily transactions and the cashless system is still a distant dream.
Most of the artisans who rely on tourists don't have POS machines or any other mode of payment that a customer can use during currency crisis.
The terracotta artisans of Bishnupur are also reeling from the effect of demonetisation. There are over 200 artisans in Bishnupur who make terracotta products and depend heavily on tourists in the winter.
In Purulia, makers of the chhau mask also rued the loss of business in the season of fairs.
Chhau is a form of dance that has gained prominence across the world. Performed by tribals in Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha, the artistes wear masks and traditional attire made by the rural artisans of Purulia and depict various episodes from the epics.
The main buyers of the masks are chhau dancers, who perform at various fairs during the winter.
"We sell our products for home decoration also in fairs and malls. But the demand has fallen several notches over the past two months. We have been forced to sell the masks on credit and we will face a lot of trouble if we do not get the money in time," said Dijen Sutradhar, an artisan in Purulia.
He said one set of chhau dance masks costs over Rs 40,000.
