Mubashir Bukhari
Srinagar (NVI): Due to internet shutdown post abolition of article 370, the exports of Kashmiri handicrafts including famed silken carpets and pashmina shawls have plummeted by 62 per cent in the second quarter of 2019, official data has revealed.
Handicrafts including carpets, shawls, paper mache, wood carving and others worth Rs 298.28 crore were exported in the first quarter of 2019 starting April. The second quarter starting July recorded a drop in the exports up to Rs 187.47 crore.
Data reveals that Kashmiri carpets, which were exported for Rs 122.65 crore in the first quarter, saw a sale of only Rs 76.26 crore in the second quarter. Similarly, the export of pashmina and other shawls dropped from Rs 88.70 crores in the first quarter to Rs 57.23 crore in the second quarter.
Exports of paper mache, chain stitch/crewel and wood carving dropped to Rs 1.26, Rs 51.03 and Rs 21.69 crore respectively in the second quarter from Rs 2.05, Rs 82.17 and Rs 2.72 crore, respectively in the first quarter.
As compared to the previous year, exports of handicrafts in the second quarter witnessed a fall of up to Rs 48.99 crore.
In 2018, handicrafts worth Rs 917.66 crore were exported, of which handicrafts worth Rs 238.82 and Rs 236.46 crore were exported in first and second quarter respectively. Similarly, handicrafts worth Rs 180.45 and Rs 261.93 crores were exported in the third and fourth quarter, respectively.
Officials said that internet gag has rendered lakhs of artisans jobless. Of whom 60,000 alone are associated with carpet sector.
Assistant Director, Handicraft Department Kashmir, Mushtaq Ahmad Shah said that lack of internet has affected the delivery of orders.
“In the second quarter, there were fewer realisations reported. We are trying to figure out how much internet blockade has affected the exports in the third quarter,” he said.
Shah claimed that there was an increase in the production in the cottage industry this year. “Production this year so far has been good. Kashmir’s cottage sector comprises indoors units only,” he said.
Dealers said lack of internet facility resulted in massive cancellation of orders in the second quarter of 2019. “We receive maximum orders in July, August and September. Lack of internet has cost us a fortune. Non-availability of mobile internet and broadband may also hit sales during Christmas and New year,” said Sheikh Ashiq Ahmad, Director of Carpet Export Promotion Council (CEPC) and President, Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industries.
