Battered by financial woes, R'sthan artisans turn to other jobs

The lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic has rendered lakhs of people jobless and artisans in Rajasthan are no exception.

The skilled artisans making exquisite jewellery in Jaipur are being forced to take up other jobs such as driving cabs or selling saris online to earn their livelihood as the jewellery market has nosedived with no buyers around.

An adept artisan making Kundan Meena jewellery, Jitendra Soni, told IANS, "I have started driving cabs to earn enough for two meals. There are simply no orders for jewellery since March. With two sons, 12 and 14 and a wife and a father to look after, I am searching for a decent job so that there is continuous income. I am tired as there is no job available. Also, driving cabs is not much of an alternative as no one wants to travel as of now."

"Till last year I was getting regular work, however, now, there are no orders. With gold prices surging, people don`t want to buy jewellery," he added.

Manoj, another jeweller who has a manufacturing unit in Jaipur, has started selling saris online and is also getting into the property business.

"Ours is a family business of jewellery manufacturing. We used to collect orders from the market and manufactured jewellery, however, now there are no orders and therefore we have to look for another profession."
However, we want to go back to the jewellery profession `as there is no match to handcrafted legacy` (haath ke hunar ki baat hi kuch aur hai), he said.

Gopal Soni, engaged in Kundan Meena work, is also searching for alternative work.

"Since March onwards, the kind of work we are getting is to repair the dismantled nose ring or earring. It doesn`t suffice and hence we are searching for alternative avenues as no one knows when this crisis will end," he said.

Rajkumar Soni, another manufacturer engaged in Kundan Meena work says, "Many of our trained artisans have left the city which is known as the Gem city and we don`t know if they will ever return. The big jewellers who used to pass on orders to us have been residing in big farmhouses to protect themselves from Covid infection."

"In such a scenario who will place orders. The market is going down; recently four members of a jewellery maker`s family hanged themselves, facing a cash crunch."

The Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) in its recent data disclosed that "During April-July 2020, Gems and Jewellery exports have declined by (-)50.36 per cent y-o-y to US$ 4.11 billion as compared to US$8.27 billion registered during the same period the previous year."

Even the exports of cut and polished diamonds went into the negative from April to July 2020 registering a -46.48 per cent decline with polished lab grown diamonds registering a -23.49 per cent fall, coloured gemstones (-68.97 per cent) , gold jewellery (-73.62 per cent) and other jewellery products also witnessing a decline. This is an indication of the contracted manufacturing activities, it said.

Kundam Meena jewellery makers said that it takes around a month to make one necklace of the brand. Now, when there are no orders in hand, we can`t believe that Diwali or the marriage season will change our destiny.

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However, Jewellers Association president Sanjay Kala said, "The market is changing and we expect a growth story coming in from the start of the Navratri season."