Pilibhit: The Union Ministry for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) has taken the initiative to revive the traditional flute industry of Pilibhit, which is on a decline at present. For this, the ministry plans to promote flute artisans and help them build their own platform for manufacturing and marketing their products through a flute cluster under SFURTI (scheme of fund for regeneration of traditional industries) launched by the Union ministry. The KVIC (khadi and village industries commission) will function as the nodal agency while Grunt Thornton, a Delhi-based organization will provide technical assistance for the same.

A Shahjahanpur-based NGO, Vinoba Sevashram, will manage the plan at the local level. The plan will also focus on utilizing remains of bamboo in manufacturing ice cream sticks, agarbatti sticks, tooth pricks and many other products to generate additional earnings.

Talking to media persons at Vinoba Sevashram’s Pilibhit office, the secretary of NGO, Mudit Saxena, said that under the guidelines of the Union ministry, a team of KVIC had conducted a door-to-door survey in August last year to study the financial condition of flute artisans in Pilibhit, in which the average daily wage of an artisan had been found between Rs 67 and Rs 175.

The ministry gave the green signal to the revival plan after a report was submitted to it jointly by KVIC and Vinoba Sevashram on March 9 this year.

Saxena said that a trust would be formed for the purpose and the trust would vest 70% of the management in the hands of artisans. There are plans to bring in state-of-the art machines and equipment in the manufacturing process. He said KVIC would play a key role in the marketing of flutes. A joint team of KVIC and Vinoba Sevashram had already explored markets for flutes in Jaipur, Mathura, New Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmadabad and Hyderabad, added Saxena.

Source: Times of India