Launch of FLO- Creative Dignity Initiative to Support and Promote Distressed Artisans by Smt. Vasundhara Raje Scindia, National Vice President, BJP & Former Chief Minister of Rajasthan

Covid 19 left millions of artisans stranded with no access to raw material, markets and basic sustenance. This prompted diverse organisations and professionals from the creative sectors to come together as a movement to provide relief and opportunities for respectful aid.

FLO & Creative Dignity are addressing this by empowering artisans from West Bengal, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Puducherry, Kerala, Bihar to reach customers digitally, giving them access to new markets and livelihood opportunities.

The highlight of the event was the FLO – Creative Dignity Artisan Fair, which was inaugurated by Smt. Vasundhara Raje Scindia, National Vice President, BJP & Former Chief Minister of Rajasthan, who was the Chief Guest.

Enabling craft enthusiasts to purchase from artisans directly, this initiative brings together hundreds of artisans, many of whom had no previous access to ecommerce to find a place with premier artisan ecommerce sites – GoCoop, Freedom Tree, Jaypore, Okhai, Itokri, Zwende and Tata CLiQ.

Speaking at the occasion, Smt. Vasundhara Raje Scindia said, “Indian artisans do not want charity. They are looking for work and, if given an opportunity they will do a very good job.”

She added, “The initiative by FLO & Creative dignity will give the local artisans a platform to collaborate with designers in order to learn essential skills, quality control, develop their crafts and directly sell in the market. There is a lot of talent in India and we need to tap that to create employment opportunities along with conservation of our crafts and arts heritage”.

FLO President, Jahnabi Phookan said “This is in sync with my vision this year, to work towards sustainable livelihoods for women’s economic empowerment. The handloom sector as the country’s second-largest employer of women, after agriculture, has been severely impacted in the Covid crisis. The digital platform offered by Creative Dignity will help FLO contribute effectively to work towards restoring lives and livelihoods for our distressed artisans across the country”.

Meera Goradia, Member of Creative Dignity’s Governing Council has a strong belief – ‘If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together”. She explained “We have more than 250 partners and volunteers across the Craft ecosystem working towards a common cause. The ‘Artisan Direct’ initiative has collaborated with premier design schools to develop catalogues of unsold inventory and onboard the artisans onto the ecommerce sites. The ecommerce partners, in turn offered to reduce their margins to boost stock sales as support to artisans. In addition to the above, Creative Dignity volunteers calibrated pricing, logistics and developed promotional artworks and media planning.”

FLO Past President Neeta Boochra also addressed the session.

Alka Batra, Governing Body Member, FLO was the Day Chair for the event.