Sustaining Livelihood! Know How This Organisation Is Providing Business Opportunities To Channpatna Artists

Image Credit: Cycle Pure Agarbathi

Sustaining Livelihood! Know How This Organisation Is Providing Business Opportunities To Channpatna Artists

Cycle Pure Agarbathi took the opportunity to give the families of this community a platform to sell their work and earn a continuous income. The brand started an initiative to provide them with a platform to sell their artwork and sustain their folk art.

The survival of the fittest is an unexaggerated connotation used in today's era as it suffices how the commoner has to take care of one's finances, morals, familial support, and so on. Leading a difficult life is often not easy as it comes with the burdened pressure of taking responsibility for oneself and fending for one's family members.

Families of the Channpatna region were living tough lives and could not sustain their livelihood from their art forms which they made out of passion and traditions. Cycle Pure Agarbathi took the opportunity to give the families of this community a platform to sell their work and earn a continuous income. The brand started an initiative to provide them with a platform to sell their artwork and sustain their folk art.

How Has The Initiative Benefitted The Community?

The initiative has shown significant improvements in terms of more people taking up folk art and the artisans able to afford schooling for their children. The community now sees hope in their craft and is optimistic that this will change their fate for the better. In this era of the unemployed labour force, the organisation has provided a platform to include stable jobs and a steady income for people from marginalised societies.

People have been working at Cycle Pure for the past few decades to sustain the folk art of Channapatna (a land known for making wooden toys). The organisation started working with the artists from the Channapatna region in 2016 and helped them design products to suit their customers' needs. Then these designs were issued to various artists who reproduced them in large quantities.

They supplied raw materials guided them through unique quality and uniformity, and due to constant demand, the artists have immense work all year around. The total number of beneficiaries from the initiative includes about 20 traditional artisans who are now acting as regular suppliers.

Financial Condition Of Channpatna Artists

According to the company, there is a sense of unity wherein the artists help each other when overloaded with work. Their financial condition was not excellent, and many artists borrowed during lean periods and paid hefty interest rates, which decreased the number of working artisans. The brand claims that they made sure the payments to artists happened through banks and that they are eligible for bank loans, and this helped them get subsidised loans and manage their finances.

The company shared with The Logical Indian, "These artists could not afford to spend time and resources on the R&D of new products. Hence, Cycle Pure Agarbathi comes in to help them with the R&D of various products. It assisted them in supplying raw materials and also paying advances against purchase orders. The company gave them guidance regarding accurate production and quality that needed to be taken care of. The NR Group also ensured that several small-time vendors were paid monthly wages during the lockdown."

The artists worked closely with products such as Ash catchers, Peeta, Jhoola, Mane, and many more used for home worship. All the products were made of seasoned wood and were polished with an eco-friendly finish. These products were known to be passed on for generations because these wooden artefacts have no expiry date. Through this initiative, the artists of the Channpatna region are getting back support to sustain themselves in the market with total efficiency.

Also Read: Making A Change! Know How This Platform Is Transforming Blue-Collar Worker's Life In India

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Editor : Shiva Chaudhary
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Creatives : Ronit Kumar Singh

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