DOES THE CHIKAN INDUSTRY NEED A QUALITY CHECK ?

DOES THE CHIKAN INDUSTRY NEED A QUALITY CHECK? by Devanshi Seth and Renu Singh (Lucknow Times, TOI Mar.2nd, 2014)
Actress Shweta Tiwari  has been a regular visitor to Lucknow since her childhood days, and she loves to shop for chikan clothes every time she’s here. But while she’s a big fan of chikan embroidery, she’s not very happy with her experience shopping for the same in Lucknow. “Though I am a patron of chikan clothes, I have noticed aaj-kal yahan par bahut saara nakli chikan milta hai. I was fooled on my last visit into fake chikan stuff, and that really upset me. Mujhe chikan bolkar bahut expensive sa kuch fabric becha tha, which was was not pure chikan. I had bought two expensive chikan saris. And taking the lesson from that incident, I have decided to take my Masi along every time I go shopping,” she shared.
Surely, the TV star is not alone in being duped in Lucknow, known throughout the world for its famed craft of chikankari. Tourists are often misled by touts into shopping at specific chikan stores, from where the latter earn a fixed commission on sales. Some of these shops often dole out low grade chikan stuff to the unaware buyer. Worse still, there is machine-made chikan in the market now, being sold as the genuine hand embroidered stuff.
“That’s the worst – duping people by selling them machine embroidered clothes, and calling it chikan!” rues Vani Anand, a Lucknow-based fashion designer who specialises in chikankari work. She adds, “And that is because people are not aware of what chikankari really is. When I put exhibitions in other cities, I have people who ask if this is Pakistani chikan; some of them just call it Lakhnawi work, they don’t even know it’s chikan. For outsiders, any thread work is chikan work.”
This is the first part of the problem that PEOPLE ARE NOT AWARE OF GENUINE CHIKANKARI.
The second problem is that CHEAP GOODS ARE IN DEMAND. While the discerning buyer is willing to pay for the intricate hand embroidery that chikan is known to be, the uninitiated assume that if in Lucknow, they should be able to take home chikan clothes for much less. “It’s very common, relatives visiting us from different cities want us to take them shopping for inexpensive chikan. They don’t realise that good handwork comes for a price,” says Beena Sood, homemaker, and goes on to add, “But we can’t blame them… They don’t have any clue about what is good chikan work and what’s not. Shopkeepers often pass off poor quality work as a great piece, because they know IT’S EASIER TO SELL AN INEXPENSIVE GARMENT THAN TO EXPLAIN WHY A PARTICULAR PIECE IS PRICED SO HIGH.”

Agrees Vani, and says, “People are willing to pay more for zardozi, they pay more for gota patti, phulkari and other embroideries, but they want to buy cheap chikan. Why? We need to make buyers aware about what they are buying and why it needs to be priced at a certain level.”
I PRESONALLY DO NOT AGREE WITH VANI JI HERE. SHE IS AMONG THE FEW WHO HAVE TAKEN CHIKAN-KARI TO THIS (HIGH) LEVEL. SHE ENJOYS A GOOD CLIENT BASE. THEY LOVE HER FOR WHAT SHE IS, AND IT IS UNDOUBTLY HER HARD WORK. WHATEVER SHE MAKES, FLIES OFF THE RACK. SO THERE IS NO QUESTION THAT SHE MAY EVER HAVE FACED THE PROBLEM OF CLIENTS ASKING FOR CHEAP CHIKAN.
The article further recommends A QUALITY MARK FOR CHIKAN PRODUCTS which according to me is a useless point which has been put to conclude it well with a suggestion.
If you wish to carry on reading, here it is:
The problem, say chikan manufacturers, is that there is no quality control in the goods being produced. A quality mark for chikan goods could perhaps solve the problem, according to the findings of a survey conducted by students during Manfest, IIM Lucknow’s management festival. Eighteen management students from various institutions from across the country conducted the survey to come up with recommendations for the upgradation of the largely unorganised chikankari industry. The students spoke to consumers, wholesale and retail dealers in Lucknow’s Chowk area, known to be the hub of the craft. Anuraag Dhingra, vertical manager for media relations Manfest, shared the details of the recommendations, “Sellers in Lucknow admitted that against the huge demand for export of chikankari stuff, only 20% of it is met by the industry. I ADD HERE THAT THE CHECKING & STRICTNESS (of quality & time) IS SO HIGH FOR THE LAYMAN (read Chikan Manufacturers) THAT THEY FEAR FOR REJECTION OF GOODS AND ALSO THAT THE SIZES THEY (the Importes) GIVE DO NOT MATCH WITH LOCAL SIZES, THEREFORE THE REJECTED LOT CAN NOT BE SOLD IN THE LOCAL MARKETS, ITS A TOTAL WASTE. FOR THEM A BIRD IN HAND IS BETTER THAN TWO IN THE BUSH -GALEY KI HADDI, NA NIGAL SAKO, NA UGAL SAKO. The recommendations made for the upgradation of the industry were: one, the need of government intervention (WHAT HAS GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION DONE SO FAR IN ANY INDUSTRY OTHER THAN TO FILL ITS OWN POCKETS, ise to kam se kam is se door hi rakho) to keep a tab on the unorganised industry; two, the requirement for capital to meet the cost of production (AB CAPITAL KI KAMI KAHAN SE AA GAYI MANUFACTURERS KO? faltu baat karta hai budbakht); and three, a quality mark for Lucknow chikan that distinguishes it from other varieties in the market (ANOTHER USELESS POINT).”
Elaborating on the need of a quality mark, Vinod Khanna (I MAY NOT KNOW HIM PERSONALLY), a whole sale dealer of chikan products in Chowk (BUT THIS IS ONE PLACE WHERE A CHUNK OF B to D GRADE CHIKAN IS MADE), adds, “We are facing competition from other varieties of chikan products available in the market, so the industry requires a quality mark that distinguishes it from others and consumers are not fooled into buying second (HA..HA..) grade stuff.”
Agrees Muzaffar Ali, who uses chikankari work liberally in the clothes he designs, and says, “Yes, of course, there should be a quality mark for chikan (JUST LIKE WOOLMARK, SILKMARK,etc.?).”
But while on paper the idea of a quality mark sounds near perfect, in reality it may not be so, point out industry insiders (NOW THIS IS WHAT I CALL A GOOD POINT). “What happens is that quality mark certification is often sold to manufacturers after the goods are produced, and they don’t necessarily guarantee a certain standard,” avers Vinod Punjabi, who owns a chikan goods’ store in Hazratganj, “The process of certification needs to be spot on, something like the gold hallmarking process. But I don’t think it’s possible in the chikan industry.”
I RECOMMEND THAT IF A GENERAL CRAFTMARK IS USED, ALL THESE WORK OUTS WILL GO DOWN THE DRAIN. A CRAFTMARK CERTIFICATE IS AVAILABLE FROM DELHI, THEY HAVE A SITE. IT IS GIVEN TO PRODUCTS, ARTISANS/ TRADERS / MANUFACTURERS WHO ARE IN THE BUSINESS OF HAND MADE.
ANOTHER WEAK POINT HIGHLIGHTED BY THE (NEWS) PAPER :
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE G.I. MARK FOR LUCKNOW CHIKAN?
While buyers and manufacturers discuss the need for a quality check for chikan, it is interesting to note that just about no one remembers that Lucknow Chikan was given the Geographical Indication(GI) mark under Intellectual Property India, way back in 2008. “The GI mark ensures barcoding of design, location and name of the artisan manufacturing the product is given on the product,” says AK Chaturvedi ( KAUN KAREGA, YEH KARENGE? ), Joint Export Commissioner, UP, says, “So if a customer only buys GI tagged chikan (KYA NORMS BANAYE HAIN INHONE GI TAGGING KE LIYE? KAISE KARWAYENGE YE GI TAGGING ITNE MANUFACTURERS SE? ABHI TAK KAHAN THE? KURSI TODNE KE ALAWA KYA KIYA INHONE AB TAK? ), we can overcome the problem of duplicates available in market (BULLSHIT).”
So where can we get GI marked chikan? Nowhere! Because more than 10 years after Lucknow chikan registered for the GI mark, the process of issuing the GI mark to the artisans has not yet been completed (DEKHA, MAINE KAHA NA- KURSI TODNA HI SABSE BADA SARKAARI KAAM HAI). “We need to educate artisans about the benefits of GI mark (KAB?). The state government is also planning to issue artisan cards to genuine artisans (GENUINE ARTISAN KAUN HOTA HAI, PATA HAI? HOW WILL YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN A GENUINE ARTISAN AND A FRAUD?) and provide them loan by issuing credit cards (ISME KAUN SI BADI TOP CHALA DI AAPNE? BANK WALE TO GHAR GHAR JAAKAR CREDIT CARD BAANT-TE PHIR RAHE HAIN, IS SE INKA KYA BHALA HOGA? BANK WALON SE COMISSION ACCHA MIL SAKTA HAI, BAS.) so that they don’t face financial crunch in manufacturing (THERE IS NO FINANCIAL CRUNCH IN MANUFACTURING) good quality chikan,” adds Chaturvedi, while agreeing that the state needs to market Lucknow chikan much better (YEH HAI PATE KI BAAT, MAAL BANANA MUSHKIL BAAT NAHIN HAI KARIGARON KE LIYE, MAAL BIKNA BADI CHEEZ HAI).
“We also plan to curb the manufacturing of Lakhnawi chikan in cities other than Lucknow (WHEN?),” he adds. CHIKAN IS BEING MADE IN AND AROUND LUCKNOW ONLY. SO THIS POINT IS A WASTE OF TIME.