Bhubaneswar: The Handloom, Textile and Handicrafts Department launched a survey of artisans Wednesday. A census of the state’s handicraft artisans was conducted last in 2001-02, and 1,29,958 artisans were identified then.
Odisha, also called Utkal, is known for excellence in art. The name Utkal means land known for excellence in art. The name was bestowed upon the state as it is a treasure trove of exquisite handicrafts and traditional art.
The counting will begin from Ugalpur in Bhadrak district where terracotta artistes will be counted by officials of the Directorate of Economics and Statistics (DE&S). The survey is being carried out based on region and craft.
A mobile app developed by ORCAS was launched on the occasion which will maintain records of all artistes. The survey will be carried out by enumerators through the app. This app is named ‘KRUTI’ (Karigar Record for Upliftment And Tracking of Information).
Enumerators will visit villages of handicraft artistes and will record data. The enumerators were trained for this at the C-DAC training centre in Bhubaneswar, said Basant Kumar Das, the Director of the Handicraft and Textile Department.
The survey will be conducted in the five districts of Keonjhar, Balasore, Bhadrak, Subarnapur and Sambalpur in the first phase. The remaining districts will be covered in the next two phases. Artistes can call the helpline number 18003457163 if they have any queries.
Das said the survey will help to plan development programmes for the handicraft sector. All handicraft artisans are requested to cooperate with the enumerators and help complete the survey successfully.