Fate of Carpet Industry and Livelihood among Tribals

Abstract

A royal Galicha carpet, typical home décor for elites, finds its origin in Kalamkui in Tapi district. The art of hand-woven Galicha carpets is gradually dying down. This study examines the causes of decline in carpet weavers’ interest in this art and proposes a model for its revival. Case study design is adopted for this study. An in-depth interview was conducted to get the information about the perceptions of the existing carpet weavers. Participant observation technique was used to get study some tacit aspects of the art. The study reveals that this art is the monopoly of tribal women living in Kalamkui and is passed on from one generation to the next. But as the carpet weavers are paid a paltry amount as their remuneration, they are now inclined towards other livelihood alternatives like factory labour, manual labour in MNREGA and even agriculture labour, as these alternatives are relatively more remunerative. The carpet weavers are not able to reap the benefits of their monopoly art because of information asymmetry in the market and unavailability of seed capital to own the business. The study proposes a model for reviving this dying art by transforming these contractual labourers to entrepreneurs.