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Geographical Indication Pochampally Ikat

Geographical Indication-FINAL 30-12-2010 · 5 Geographical Indication-Pochampally Ikat PRODUCT VARIETIES Pochampally sarees, usually 5 to 6 meters in length, are handwoven on handlooms

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Geographical IndicationPochampally Ikat

Geographical Indication-Pochampally Ikat1

Prepared by :Kumar Gautam ([email protected])

Nupur Bahl ([email protected])

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We would like to thank all those who contributed to our knowledge and understanding ofPochampally Ikat. We feel indebted to Ikat weavers in Pochampally who gave us their

time and responded to our queries. We would like to especially thank the following for providingus information and sharing their views on various issues related to GI status of PochampallyIkat:

● Marchala Mohan Rao, Rashtra Chenetha Jan Samakhya (Handlooms)

● Dr. Chari, CEO, Pochampally Handloom Park, Pochampally

● K. Subodh, APTDC, Hyderabad

● Dr. D.N. Reddy, Chetana Society, Hyderabad

● Yadagri Tadaka, Sanghmitra, Pochampally

● Officials of NABARD, Hyderabad

● Officials, weavers and ancillary workers of Pochampally Handloom Park

● Development Commissioner, Ministry of Textiles and Handloom, Hyderabad

● Anant Ramalu, veteran masterweaver, Pochampally

● Office-bearers and members of Pochampally Handloom Weavers Cooperative Society

● Office bearers and members of Pochampally Tie and Dye Silk Saree ManufacturerAssociation Pvt. Ltd.

2Geographical Indication-Pochampally Ikat

CONTEXT

Pochampally, a natural cluster in Nalgondadistrict of Andhra Pradesh, is the single largesthandloom tie and dye weaving centre famous for“Ikat- Tie and Dye” sarees. Pochampally Ikat isalso the first product from India’s traditional craftsector to be awarded a Geographical Indication(GI) status under the Indian GeographicalIndications Act, 1999. Geographical Indications(GI), one of the six Trade-Related IntellectualProperty Rights (TRIPS) of the World TradeOrganisation (WTO)1, seeks to provide protectionto products registered as GI goods. In simpleterms, a ‘Geographical Indication label’ indicatesthat the good is a unique product in terms of itsgiven quality, reputation or other characteristicsand the uniqueness is essentially attributed toits geographical origin. Several studies on GIsuggest that if harnessed properly, trade gainsfrom enhanced sale of GI goods could providetremendous socio-economic benefits to theproducers of such goods (Rangnekar D, 2003).India, in compliance with the TRIPS Agreementof the WTO, enacted ‘The GeographicalIndications of Goods (Registration and Protection)Act (GI Act), on 15th September 2003 to provideprotection to the goods registered under the Act.

The producers’ community of Pochampally Ikatis facing two key problems in recent times. Oneis the spiralling price of yarn, particularly silkyarn and the other is the large scale imitation ofPochampally design and sales in the name ofPochampally Ikat. The GI Act, 1999 grantsprotection against the latter problem. This casestudy attempts to explore the socio-economicimpact on Pochampally Ikat producers’community after GI protection was granted in2004-05.

METHODOLOGY

A week long field visit to Pochampally wasundertaken for the purpose of writing this casestudy. A set of unstructured questionnaires wasprepared to seek information from relevantstakeholders. Face to face interviews wereconducted with weavers, craft workers engagedat different stages of pre-loom processes, masterweavers, sellers, traders, representatives frombodies who were involved in the application

1 The six IPRs are patents, copyrights, trademarks, Geographical indications, Industrial Designs and Trade secrets.2 As informed by Pochampally Tie and Dye Silk Saree Manufacturers Association. The NABARD Cluster Development Programme

Evaluation report says 40 villages and Sanghmitra’s Post GI proposal says 60 villages.

process of GI registration and from organisationsthat provided technical and non-technical supportduring registration. The Commissioner,Department of Textiles and Handloom(Government of Andhra Pradesh), leading civilsociety organisations both within and outsidePochampally and other experts on the issue wereconsulted. Telephonic interviews were held withthose who were not available in person duringour visit. Focus Group Discussions (FGD) werealso held with weavers and master weavers inPochampally. In addition, desk research has beenconducted and relevant secondary sources werereviewed to substantiate the study with facts andfigures.

POCHAMPALLY: THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC

PROFILE

Though Pochampally Ikat is woven in about 100villages2 spread over five districts in AndhraPradesh, namely Nalgonda, Warangal,Rangareddy,Mehboobnagar and Medak; thereputation and uniqueness of Pochampally Ikatis essentially attributed to a village namedPochampally situated 46 kms away fromHyderabad; the state capital of Andhra Pradesh.Located in Nalgonda district, the village wasnamed ‘Bhoodan Pochampally’ after AcharyaVinoba Bhave. The great Gandhian socialreformer started his Bhoodan movement from thisvillage with the donation of land by SriV.R.C.Reddy. The total village extend of BhoodanPochampally is 6844 acres, half of which is

Geographical Indication-Pochampally Ikat3

cultivated and a little over 10% falls underwasteland. The village area is 193 acre. ThePochampally Gram Panchayat has 16 wardscomprising of 22 colonies.

The village has about 3000 families and the totalpopulation is around 14000 with number of malesand females being almost equal. The Weaverscommunity, Padmasali, is the dominantcommunity in the village representing more than70% of the families (see Table 1). Weaving is themajor source of livelihoods for people inPochampally, providing livelihoods to more than50% of the families in the village (see Table 2).The village has about 2000 pitlooms and 5000weavers. Further at the disaggregated level, outof 1450 families depending on weaving, 650 ofthem are weaving wage labourers, 495 have theirown weaving facilities, 201 are master weaversand 102 sell sarees at their retail outlets.

Weavers in Pochampally can be divided broadlyin three categories. The first category of weaversis in the Co-operative fold. The Co-operativesociety provides raw materials to the weaversand the final product is taken by the society. Thesociety pays wages to the weavers. The secondcategory of weavers consists of IndependentWeavers. These weavers have their own loomsand they buy raw materials. They sell the

finished products to whomever they want andare not bound to a particular master weaver. Thethird category of weavers includes those whowork under master weavers. Master weaversgive capital/financial loans and supply rawmaterials to coolie weavers. The weavers weavethe required designs as per the requirement ofthe master weavers. Master weavers then takethe finished products and in return pay wagesto the weavers.

Table 1: Caste –wise Population in Pochampally

Caste Category % Distribution

BC 77

OC 12

SC 9

ST 2

Total 100

Source: Current Reality Assessment, BhodanPochampally, Akshara Report

Note: Weavers belong to BC category

Table 2: Employment Distribution of People inPochampally

Livelihood Units % of Families No. ofEngaged Livelihood

Units

Weaving 48.2 1448

Agriculture/Livestock 23.9 717

Business and Other 23.1 693Services

Agriculture/construction 21.8 654labourer

Toddy Tapping 4.3 129

Washing 3.1 93

Fishery 2.6 79

Musical band 1.7 50

Basket weaving 0.9 28

Miscellaneous 0.9 27livelihoods

Hair cutting 0.8 24

Pottery 0.6 17

Total 137.3 3959

Source: Current Reality Assessment, BhodanPochampally, Akshara Report

Note: The livelihood engagement percentage of familiesare exceeding hundred percent because some familieshave more than one livelihood. Wherever more than onemember of a family is engaged in the same livelihood, itis considered as one only.

4Geographical Indication-Pochampally Ikat

HISTORY OF POCHAMPALLY IKAT

In the late 19th century, Ikat technique was usedto weave cotton Rumal, also known as TeliaRumal or Asia Rumal in a place called Chirala,in Andhra Pradesh, situated on the rail routebetween Vijaywada and Chennai. Characterisedby their bold, geometrical motifs, in red, blackand white, offset by wide single coloured borders,they were used in India by fisher folks andcowherds as loincloths, lungis or turbans3. In theearly 20th century, these ‘Rumals’ were exportedin large numbers to Burma, the Middle East andEast Africa. It is believed that Ikat techniquewas brought to Pochampally from Chirala abouta couple of generations ago in the early twentiethcentury during the period of Nawab Salarjung.

With the end of Nawab’s rule in 1948,Pochampally weaving was in trouble for a fewyears. Pochampally weaving regained life in1952, when a branch of Koyallagudem HandloomCooperative Society was opened in Pochampally.The society provided raw material to the weaversand bought back the finished products. Thisbranch later became an independent co-operativesociety named “Pochampally Handloom Weavers’Co-operative society”. Pochampally Ikat rumalswere exhibited in All India handicraft exhibition,Delhi in the year 1954 and won tremendousappreciation from the visitors. Some of thevisitors asked the Pochampally artisans to trysarees using the same tie and dye technique.Responding to the suggestion, artisans atPochampally started weaving sarees by using 60scount yarn that soon became popular all overthe country.

In the year 1956, Smt. Kamladevi Chatopadhya,Director All India Handloom Board visited thePochampally Society. Highly impressed by theweavers’ skills and their products, she advisedthem to weave silk sarees, as that would givethem better wages. The artisans expressed theirignorance about the know-how of silk weaving.All India Handloom Board acted promptly toaddress their concerns and sent two weaversfrom Pochampally, namely Shri K. Anantaramluand Shri K. Manikyam, to Banaras for a 96 daystraining programme in silk weaving where theylearnt silk weaving and dyeing.

The next major initiative to support Pochampallyweavers’ community for silk weaving came froma trader, Shri Kodanda Raman of Radha SilkEmporium of Kumbhakonam, Tamil Nadu. Hetook a group of skilled weavers from Pochampallyto Kumbhakonam to weave silk Ikat sarees andalso paid them very well. The weavers ofPochampally worked in Kubhkonam for about ayear and came back to Pochampally afterlearning the method of colouring and dyeing silkyarn. On return, those trained weavers started,though amid much difficulties especially inprocuring yarn, to weave Ikat silk sarees inPochampally. In the year 1959 and 1961,Pochamaplly Ikat silk sarees were exhibited inBangalore and both times received the honourof a silver vessel by the Maharaja of Mysore.Despite the lack of support from the Pochampallycooperative society to silk weaving in the initialyears, the weavers continued to weave silk sareestill Pochampally Ikat became a brand for itstechnique and designs all over the country.

POCHAMPALLY IKAT: PRODUCT, PROCESS

AND PRODUCTION ORGANISATION

Pochampally Ikat: A Unique Technique

The term Ikat has its origin in Malay –Indonesian expression ‘Mangikat’ meaning tobind, knot or wind around. Pochampaal Ikat, thetechnique of resist - dyeing is mostly done withgeometrical designs, involves the sequence oftying (or wrapping) and dyeing exposed sectionsof bundled yarn to get a pre-determined colourscheme prior to weaving. The patterns formedon the yarn are then configured into the wovenfabric. Pochampally Ikat designs are woven inthree basic forms (1) Single Ikat, where eitherwarp or weft threads are tied and dyed prior toweaving, (2) Combined Ikat, where warp or weftIkat may co-exist in different parts of a fabricoccasionally overlapped and (3) Double Ikat, acomplex form, wherein both warp and weftthreads are tied and dyed with such precisionthat when woven thread from both axes meshexactly at certain points to form a complete motifor pattern.

3 From statement of case, GI Application document for Pochampally Ikat

Geographical Indication-Pochampally Ikat5

PRODUCT VARIETIES

Pochampally sarees, usually 5 to 6 meters inlength, are handwoven on handlooms using 2/120 counts of yarn. In recent years, however, withthe demand for sarees reducing owing to changesin the preferences of the consumers, Pochampallyhas diversified its products. Now, dress materialsand furnishings are also woven on handlooms.Dress materials with 2/80 and 2/120 counts ofcotton and silk yarn, including Punjabi suits forgirls, are produced on handlooms. Furnishingsare generally woven with 2/17, 2/20 counts ofyarn. The common furnishing items woven inPochampally are door curtains, bed linen, andtable linen.

RAW MATERIALS

Raw materials used in the preparation of sareesinclude yarn, colours, zari and other chemicalagents (soda, bleaching powder, starch etc).Mulberry silk yarn is procured from Bangalore,Karnataka through three main channels- TheState Sericulture Co-operative Federation Ltd(SERIFED), Karnataka Silk Board (KSB) andprivate traders in Bangalore, Mysore andAnantapur. To purchase silk yarn, the buyersplace bulk orders to private traders or KarnatakaSilk Board through phone. Accordingly, the yarnis transported and supplied to buyers ofPochampally. The hank yarn used on handloomsis being supplied by National HandloomDevelopment Corporation Ltd. (NHDC) and alsoby some traders in Pochampally andSecunderabad.

Even though the services of NHDC, SERIFED,KSB are available in Pochampally, a majority ofmaster weavers are purchasing yarn/dyes fromprivate traders mainly because they offer yarnon credit facility unlike NHDC and SERIFED.In the wake of spiralling silk yarn prices in theprevious year (2009-10) even private tradershave withdrawn credit facility for yarnprocurement. These days, before procuring theyarn, the buyers have to pay for it throughdemand drafts. Even worse, in some cases thesuppliers demand an advance before booking thesupply order. These recent developments in viewof the rising prices of silk yarn have seriousimplications for Pochampally economy in generaland the weaving community in particular. Thebuyers of Pochampally can no longer afford such

large bulk purchases as before. Reducedpurchase of yarn means reduced work forweavers and associated craftworkers, renderinglarge number of skilled craftworkers unemployedin Pochampally. The cascading effect of lessproduction has infected and agitated the wholeweaving community. “The unrest caused has ledto several protests, demonstrations and ralliesin recent months demanding urgentinterventions by the government to bring downsilk yarn prices” said Marchla Mohan Rao, aweaver and activist from the region.

Colours and dyes are procured from traders inSecunderabad who procure them from Mumbai.Each saree requires approximately 150-200 gmsof colour. Zari is procured from Surat and Punein Maharashtra.

The prices of silk and cotton yarn, both for warpand weft have risen exorbitantly in 2009-10. Within the last six months silk yarn prices haverisen by more than 70 percent and cotton yarn priceshave shot up by 60 percent. While the price of silkwarp went up from 1,600 per kg in 2009 to 2800 in2010, Weft silk yarn prices rose from ` 1,250 lastyear to ̀ 2,000 this year. For cotton yarns too, priceof 60s count yarn in 2009 was 750 per bundle andtoday it is available at 1,220. For 80s count yarn,prices hiked up from 1,050 in 2009 to 1,570 in 2010

(Source: Rashtra Cheneta Jan Samakhya,Handloom)

PRODUCTION AND MARKETING

The production and marketing of PochampallyIkat is largely managed by two bodies based inPochampally: (1) Pochampally HandloomWeavers Co-operative Society Limited, anautonomous society registered under the societyAct, 1860 and (2) Pochampally Tie and Dye SilkSaree Manufacturers Association, anorganisation established under the law.

Production: As many as 800 looms in thecluster are registered with the PochampallyHandloom Weavers Cooperative Society Limited;but only 15 to 20 percent looms (around 200looms) are reported to be active today. Theremaining work under the private sector withthe Pochampally Handloom Tie and Dye SilkSarees Manufacturers Association. Theassociation was formed for resolving issuesrelated to the weaving business and for getting

6Geographical Indication-Pochampally Ikat

purchase from Pochampally and sell in their localmarkets through retail shops. Though thePochampally Ikat products have internationaldemand; there are no direct exports happeningfrom the Pochampally cluster. Wholesalers inDelhi and Mumbai are reported to be exportingPochampally Ikat products to Europe.

The Pochampally Handloom WeaversCooperative Society has a retail shop in thePochampally village, within the premises of thecooperative office. A few years ago, there was ahuge pile up of stocks in the cluster, resulting inagitation by the weavers. The State governmentat that time had intervened and picked up stockin bulk quantity through Andhra Pradesh StateHandloom Weavers’ Cooperative Society Ltd.(APCO). APCO initiated and promoted sales ofthe Ikat products through several exhibitions atvarious locations in Andhra Pradesh. Currently,APCO is the main buyer of the products of theCooperative society. The society has a mark-upof 12% on all the products (cotton and silk) andsells around 350 sarees a month to APCO. Theaverage sale of the retail shop is around 1-2 lakha month. However, the institutional sales (toarmy etc) and the sales to APCO have droppedsignificantly in the last few years.

Another development in the last few years hasbeen the development of the Padma VamshiHandlooms and Textiles (PVT Market) inKothapeth, Hyderabad. The land was bought bya group of master weavers and traders with theaim of constructing a handloom market center.Currently, the PVT market has 225 shops whichare owned by the master weavers/traders. Theseshops stock products from various handloom/power loom clusters in India. There are 35handloom shops out of which 7 stock productsfrom Bhoodan Pochampally. The main logicbehind this complex was that these shops couldact as order placing points as well a channel forretailing. However, this has significantly reducedthe visits of wholesalers to the Pochampallyclusters. Many are sourcing from the PVTmarket.

There are various other retail/wholesale outletsspread in Hyderabad and other parts of AndhraPradesh. Some of the owners of these outletshave their own looms spread across Nalgondadistrict and supply in bulk through the outlets.

better rates for products. The Associationcurrently has 110 members, who own retail shopsin the Pochampally cluster. These local sellersand traders are registered as the ‘Manufacturers’of Pochampally Ikat sarees. The role of amanufacturer in Pochampally is quite similarto that of a master weaver. These manufacturersprovide raw material and design to the weaversworking for them, either from their householdsor working in the work-sheds(karkhanas) run bythese manufacturers. Many of thesemanufacturers (members of the association) haveorganized production for their business underone roof in the form of karkhanas, with a capacityof 8-10 looms. Weavers working in thesekarkhanas carry out all the production processesthere and work for 8-10 hours a day on anaverage. Weavers give the finished products tothese manufacturers and receive their wages.

The ‘Cooperative’ and the ‘Association’ have asimilar structure of operations - they supply yarnand dye to the weavers who carry out variousprocesses including degumming, mercerizing,dyeing and weaving at their home. A majority ofweaving in the Pochampally village is done bymen. Women mostly engage in pre-loomactivities (spinning, bleaching, assistance onloom etc) and are not directly involved withweaving on the loom. For each design, thesociety/members of the association supply rawmaterials for one cycle (in which about 6-8 sareesare woven depending upon the designs) theweaver. It takes 30-45 days to complete the cycle,for which typically the whole family is engaged(pre loom and post loom processes). Dependingon the design, the weaver is paid between ̀ 1500-3500 for one cycle, and this payment is also called‘conversion charges’ in technical parlance.

Marketing: Pochampally Ikat has beenexperiencing a decline in sales because of lowproduction, limited marketing efforts, lack ofdesign and innovation and near stagnancy inweaver’s skills. The cluster has no systematicmarketing strategy in place. The Ikat productsreach the market through various channels inwhich middlemen (retailers, traders, masterweavers) play a major role. The members of the‘Tie and dye Manufacturers Association’ markettheir products through their show rooms inPochampally. Buyers/traders from differentstates like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Delhi,Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh do wholesale

Geographical Indication-Pochampally Ikat7

Box1: The Oldest Weaver in Pochampally

Sri. Karnati Ananthramulu, the veteranoctogenarian weaver of Pochamaplly, has beenweaving since 1944. He has seen it all and caneffortlessly narrate in his own anecdotal style,the history of Pochamaplly clustertransformation from a centre of cotton Ikatweaving to a well known silk Ikat weavingcentre. It is difficult to believe when he says,“None of us in Pochampally had even seen ortouched a silk thread till early 1950s”. We usedto weave cotton sarees and cotton rumals-thefamous Telia or Sobiyan rumals. The credit ofushering us into the world of silk weavingactually goes to Smt. Kamala DeviChatopadhya, the great freedom fighter wholater also became the Director, All IndianHandloom Board (AIHB). When she visitedPochampally in the year 1956, she appreciatedour skill and products and encouraged us toweave designs with silk yarn. On herdirections, Sri Ananthramulu who was one ofthe two highly skilled weavers fromPochampally was sent to Banaras for 96 daysto learn silk weaving. Ananthramulu’s eyes litup when he fondly recalled, “During our visitto Banaras, it was the first time we had evertouched silk. Sri M. Zafar Ali from Rasulpurvillage, a renowned weaver from Banaras,taught us how to weave silk’. He further said,“Zafar Ali taught us everything about silkweaving but he did not teach us how to colourthe silk yarns. We were stuck. Even if weprocured silk yarn through cooperative society,we did not know the art of dyeing silk yarn”.The deadlock broke only after a trader-cummaster weaver, shri Kodanda Raman of RadhaSilk Emporium of Kumbhakonam, Tamilnaduvisited Pochampally to hire a few high-skilledweavers to weave Pochampally design on silk.He took a group of skilled weavers fromPochampally to Kumbhakonam to do Ikatweaving. The progressive weavers ofPochampally saw this offer as an opportunityto learn the art of colouring silk yarns. Theygladly accepted this offer. Recollecting factsfrom those years, he added, “we visited SilchariGram, kumbhakonam Taluka, Thanjavurdistrict of Tamilnadu to learn silk colouringfrom them.” The weavers of Pochampallyworked in Kubhkonam for about a year andcame back to Pochampally after learning the

method of colouring and dyeing silk yarn. Onreturn, those trained weavers started, thoughamid much difficulties especially in procuringyarns, to weave Ikat silk sarees inPochampally. Gradually, the other weaversin the cluster picked up the tie and dye skillsand Pochampally sarees became a muchsought after in big markets. As the businessexpanded, the number of looms increased andthe cluster flourished. However, it turned outthat some worrisome facts adversely impactedthe prospects of Pochampally Ikat and in turnthe livelihoods of thousands of PochampallyIkat artisans.

The biggest threat to the sector is powerloomsclaims Ananthramulu “It was in 1990, thatArvind Mills, Ahmadabad started copyingPochampally designs on powerlooms andstarted selling fake sarees for ` 500, whichan original could cost 3000-4000. Low wagesand decreased demand have killed thepotential skill and creativity of weavers in thecluster. Over the years, Pochampally craft hasdeclined significantly “Weavers are doing oddjobs in the cities,” he remorsed.

Asked whether the GI Act or an initiative likePochampally Handloom Park could turnthings around, he wove his concludingremarks with a heavy heart, “These are purelycosmetic and divorced from realities on theground. Perhaps, the worst thing that ishappening today is that weavers and realstakeholders have become peripheral to all theefforts and initiatives. At the centre of all thislies the interest of those who are neitherinterested in Pochampally nor in PochampallyIkat.”

Karnati Ananthramulu, a weaver in Pochampally

8Geographical Indication-Pochampally Ikat

POCHAMPALLY HANDLOOM PARK

From the point of view of production andmarketing of Pochampally Ikat, PochampallyHandloom Park, although a very recentdevelopment, assumes significance. The parkwas originally envisaged as providing booster tothe distressed weaver’s community. Located inKanumukkala village in Nalgonda district, 60Kms from Hyderabad and 15 Kms from thePochampally village; Pochampally HandloomPark Limited has been set up under the Public-Private Partnership model. The PochampallyHandloom Park is an outcome of jointcollaboration of local entrepreneurs, the Ministryof Textiles, Government of India andGovernment of Andhra Pradesh. Theinfrastructure of the park was supported by agrant from Ministry of Textiles, Government ofIndia, Ministry of Rural Development,Government of Andhra Pradesh, andcontributions from the members and term loans.Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd.(IL&FS) was engaged to execute the project. Thekey objective behind setting up this park is toprovide the handloom industry with anintegrated world-class infrastructure thatenables them to meet international environmentand social standards.

Innaugrated in 2008, the Park has been built ona 24 acre site with an outlay of ` 47 crore. Thepark is envisioned to provide employment to over10,000 weavers in its full capacity. The park hasa capacity to run 2,000 looms with a capacity toweave 40 lakh meters of cloth every year. Thepark is managed by an exclusive managementcommittee of 30 promoters including ninedirectors for separate divisions. Currently, twoyears post the park inauguration; around 350artisans are working in the park. Of these,approximately 120 are weavers and the rest areengaged in ancillary activities like spinning,dyeing, bleaching, finishing etc. At present, 500looms have been set up in the park, out of whichonly 150 are functional.

The artisans working in the park come from thesurrounding 25 villages (within a radius of 20-40 kms). The Park Management has providedthem with auto-rikshaw facilities to commuteto the park. The park has a training centre forimparting training in all related stages ofweaving so as to encourage more workers to take

up weaving. The raw material for silk productionis purchased from traders in Bangalore andcotton yarn is procured from Guntur. Thefinished products (sarees, home furnishing, dressmaterial) are being directly exported to Europeand some of the domestic buyers includeFabIndia, Shoppers Stop, Rosebee etc. Theproduct development and design support in thepark is being provided by a leading textiledesigner, Ms. Chelna Desai.

The wages and salaries in the park are based onthe skills of the artisans and the targets set bythe management. On an average, weaverssalaries range between ̀ 2,500-4,000 per month.Sundays are off days. However, the park hasstringent rules of attendance; for instance, incase an employee takes more than two days offin a month, salary is deducted for 4 Sundays inaddition to the days the employee was on leave.

The park has not been able to enthuse theweaver’s community in Pochampally and attractartisans to work in the park in spite of the factthat the management has sought the support oflocal media and coordinators to attract weavers.Most of the weavers and ancillary workers livefar away from the park. According to S.N. Das,the Production Manager of the park, the weaversfrom Pochampally village have not shifted to theTextile Park because “they are getting the workanyway and also getting more or less the similarwages. Moreover, most of the weavers inPochampally do not prefer to go out and work.They like to weave at home. However, theadvantage of coming to the park is that weaversand workers do not have to bother aboutprocuring raw material, credit or marketing.They just come, do their work and receive wagesin return”

REGISTRATION OF POCHAMPALLY IKAT

UNDER GI ACT

The Rational for Registration

Pochampally is the single largest handloom tieand dye weaving cluster with 2000 pitlooms and5000 artisans. Also, Pochampally Ikat productshave good market potential both in the domesticand overseas market. These factors madePochampally an obvious choice for the TextileCommittee’s Cluster Development Programmelaunched on 8 August,2008. The cluster

Geographical Indication-Pochampally Ikat9

diagnostic study in its SWOT analysishighlighted the threat to Pochampally Ikatproducts from the prevalence of large scaleimitation of Pochampally design by big mills andPowerloom industry. As a solution to this, theneed for registering Pochampally Ikat under GIAct was also strongly recommended as a priorityunder the cluster development programme. Itwas believed that the registration ofPochampally Ikat under the GI Act will declarethe prevalent unethical practices illegal andwould hence act as an effective deterrent. It wasenvisioned that the GI registration would enablethe weaving community to effectively use theadvantage of reputation enjoyed by PochampallyIkat and significant demand for the product inboth domestic and overseas market; andranslate it into increased employment andenhanced income for themselves.

The Lead-up to GI Registration

The process of GI registration for PochampallyIkat was spearheaded by the Textiles Committeeunder their cluster development programme. Theefforts towards registration started in mid 2003and the whole process took approximately twoyears. The lead applicants were PochampallyHandloom Weavers’ Co-operative Society andPochampally Handloom Tie & Dye Silk SareesManufactures Association. The Directorate(Handlooms & Textiles) Government of AndhraPradesh, Weavers Service Centre (WSC), AndhraPradesh Technology and Development Centre(APTDC), and NABARD were also involved inthe process. The services of APTDC were usedfor filing application before GI registry andNABARD provided funds under its DRIPprogramme to cover the costs involved.

The idea to get Pochampally registered underthe GI Act did not originate from the producers’community of Pochampally. Variousrepresentative groups from Pochampallycomprising mainly of sellers, traders and masterweavers had approached the heads of the rulingparties at both the national as well as state levelto complain about large mills and power loomscopying the Pochampally Designs at a lower Costand selling it off as Pochampally Ikat.Representatives from the Pochampally Tie andDye Silk Saree Manufactures Association hadmet the two former prime ministers of India, ShriP.V. Narsimha Rao and Shri Atal Bihari

Vajpayee and also the former Chief Minister ofAndhra Pradesh, Y S R Reddy with samples offake Ikat products as proof. Several timesrepresentatives had also approached theDirectorate (Handloom and Textiles),Government of Andhra Pradesh to registercomplaints against the prevalence of imitationproducts and repeatedly appealed for correctivemeasures to be taken. With the GI Act alreadyin place, in the year 2003 itself, the governmentof Andhra Pradesh decided to go for registrationof Pochampally Ikat as a remedial measure.

The two premier cooperatives from Pochampally– Pochampally Handloom Weavers CooperativeSociety and Pochampally Handloom Tie and DyeSilk Saree Manufacturers’ Association PrivateLimited, were selected to be the applicantsrepresenting the interest of the producer groupsof Pochampally. Though neither of the applicantsreally understood the GI Act, its relevance andimplications, hoping that the GI registrationwould effectively stop the unscrupulous tradersfrom selling imitated products, they agreed togo for the registration of Pochampally Ikat underGI Act.

Textile Committee, Ministry of Textiles,Government of India supported the stategovernment of Andhra Pradesh and spearheadedthe registration process of Pochamaplly Ikatunder the GI Act. Andhra Pradesh TechnologyDevelopment & Promotion Centre, anorganisation having an exclusive IPR cell andpromoted by CII, Government of Andhra Pradesh& TIFAC, provided technical support requiredin the application process. NABARD under itsDRIP project provided the financial support anda legal firm - Anand & Anand - was appointedas the legal representative for the purpose of theapplication. A team comprising ofrepresentatives from all these organisationsvisited the Pochampally Site to ascertain theuniqueness of Pochampally Ikat. According toK. Subodh, a chemical technologist from IITMadras with specialisation in IPR issues andcurrently heading APTDC, “It was not easy toascertain the uniqueness in this case becausethere hardly existed any experience of dealingwith GI anywhere in India, especially thetraditional textile sector. We had to work hardon basic things like form filling, fees to be paid,process to be followed etc.” According to Subodh,the real bottle necks found during the processwere establishing the uniqueness of the product,

10Geographical Indication-Pochampally Ikat

difficulty in establishing the difference fromother similar products from other regions likeIkat from Gujrat, convincing people, makingstakeholders aware and bringing them togetherand deciding about the owners. For credibleinformation on Ikat and establishing itsuniqueness, the book by Dr. Chellena Desai, theMumbai based designer and well known experton Ikat was consulted and proved to be greathelp.

APTDC played a big role, voluntarily, in all theprocesses involved before filing the GIapplication. This initiative was supported by theTextile Committee under the ClusterDevelopment Scheme. NABARD provided afunding of ` 1.5 lakh thereafter.

Once the team identified and approved thepotential of Pochampally Ikat to be registeredas GI, a documentation process was carried outto bring out the Statement of Case for filing theGeographical Indication application ofPochampally Ikat. The application was filed forGeographical Indications on 15 Dec 2003.Subsequently, the expert committee from Govt.of India, led by the Controller of Patents, andDesigns & Trademarks, Govt. of India, visitedthe Pochampally site on May 2004 to ascertainthe facts. The expert Committee sought certainclarifications which were answered by the teammentioned above. “The process of GI registrationitself was not found cumbersome. There was goodcooperation and response from the GI registryoffice, Chennai. The senior officials from theregistry office took keen interest in the process.They even participated in the workshopsorganised in this regard”, said K. Subodh.

The Case of Pochampally Ikat was foundmeritorious by the Expert Committee, followingwhich on December 31, 2004; Pochampally Ikatwas awarded the GI Registration. No formalannouncement was made even at the cluster orvillage level in Pochampally. Ironically, eventhough the GI Act provides collective protectionrights to the producers’ community, theproducers’ community of Pochampally Ikat arethe least aware of the provisions and protectionsof the Act. Awareness generation andinformation dissemination becomes even moreimportant while dealing with micro andunorganised enterprises in clusters that have noidea or information or appreciation about GI andits potential in safeguarding their livelihoods.

However, the efforts to raise awareness aboutthe GI Act before or during the registrationprocess were woefully inadequate. Over all,about five awareness workshops were held inconnection with Pochampally Ikat registration.The average number of participants in each wasaround 50 people. This means that all togetheronly 250 people in total participated inawareness raising efforts. Furthermore, asinformed by weavers during our interaction withthem, very few weavers participated in theseawareness workshops as they were notadequately informed about such meetings. Thedue diligence with regard to these workshops wasreportedly missing on all the fronts such as - dateof the workshops, venue for the workshops,information about the workshops, disseminationmaterial etc.

POST GI SCENARIO IN POCHAMPALLY

More than five years have passed sincePochampally Ikat was conferred legal protectionin India with the aim of preventing unauthorizeduse of the word Pochampally Ikat, enabling anaction for infringement against the offenders andpromoting economic prosperity of producers ofPochampally. From these aims and objectives,the key deliverables that flow for the Post-GIstage are (a) Enforcement of the GeographicalIndication – Pochampally Ikat, for preventingCopying & Passing Off (b) Identifying theInfringers and taking necessary action and (c)Establishing the legal identity in theinternational market. Evidence from the fieldsuggests that the outcomes on almost all thesefronts have been unsatisfactory.

ENFORCEMENT

The enforcement record of GI Act in the case ofPochampally Ikat has been extremely dismal.Why has enforcement not taken place to the

Geographical Indication-Pochampally Ikat11

extent it should have? This remains a seriousconcern even among those who were leading theGI registration process. Commenting on thestatus of enforcement, the APTDC head, MrSubodh remarked- “Enforcement remains aserious concern. Unless the enforcement in themarket is done well, the entire effort becomesuseless”. He further laments, “No post GImechanism is actually in place to educate theconsumers, to ensure that markets recognise GIproducts and to monitor quality and maintainstandard of the GI products”.

There is no functional agency in Pochampally tolook into the implementation affairs related toGI issues. The applicants’ offices have thecertificates in their possession, but have no ideaabout leveraging this collective right.

The applicants registered as proprietors as perthe entry made in Part-A of the GI register areoften misconstrued as the relevant functionalagencies for the purpose. Moreover, there is utterconfusion about the authorised users and theprocess for registration of the ‘Authorised Users’of which the entry is made in part-B of the GIregister. Do the members of the organisationsregistered as proprietors automatically becomeauthorised users or every potential authoriseduser is supposed to register separately? In caseof separate registration, what is the procedure,where is it done, who is supposed to facilitatethe process? Absolute ambiguity prevails withregard to all these relevant questions. Hence,tremendous amount of handholding is requiredto the Pochampally Ikat producer’s communityso as to help them realise the proposed benefitsfrom GI registration of Pochampally Ikat.

According to Mr. Subodh, the presentComptroller General of Andhra Pradesh hassuggested the formation of an apex society thatwill act as a functional society to look into allthe related issues including facilitatingregistration of the authorises users. Theregistered proprietors may take the lead in theformation of such as society. This is an importantpiece of information but hardly anybody knowsabout it.The members of the Tie and Dye SilkSaree Manufacturing Association Pvt. Ltd. hadthe basic information about the GI and itsobjective but their common refrain is that theGI process was led by the Textile committee andthe APTDC; and they could never become anintegral part of the GI process with regard to

Pochampally Ikat. As a consequence, none ofthem have any idea about the way forward.

When asked what exists in terms of post-GI, Mr.Subodh said that some retailers have startedmentioning the word GI in their bill-books andinvoices and even on the billboards of retailoutlets. Some official letters have also been sentto other state governments, industries etc.informing them about the registration ofPochampally Ikat (the word) under the GI Act.

Mr. Govardhan, one of directors of thePochampally Handloom Park who looks after themanagement of the retail shop located withinthe park premises was unaware of the GI andwhether the Pochampally Ikat products carriedany GI tag. The authors of this case studysurveyed a few products in the retails shop andfound a tag on some of the products labellingthem as GI. When this fact was brought to theattention of Mr. Govardhan, he said “yes. Thisis the GI tag.” It may be mentioned here thatthe GI tag gave no description of the product orits uniqueness. Also, it was the only place wherethe authors found any kind of a tag mentioningthe word “GI”.

According to APTDC, a State level committeeunder the leadership of Govt. of Andhra Pradesh,Dept. of Handlooms & Textiles has beenconstituted to focus on the Post GI initiatives.The Committee has recommended severalimportant measures such as Infringement actionplans, litigation measures, advertisement andpublic outreach programs to bring out theessence of GI Protection of “Pochampally Ikat”for the benefit of the producers and consumers.These recommendations, however, have not beenput into action as yet. No detailed informationwith regard to the state level committee was

12Geographical Indication-Pochampally Ikat

available with anyone consulted during the fieldvisit, including the office of the Directorate(Handloom and Textiles), Govt. of AndhraPradesh. According to I.S. Naresh, thecommissioner (Handloom and Textiles- Govt. ofAndhra Pradesh), “the concept of GI is yet notwell known in India among the producers andconsumers. Lot of capacity building is requiredon the GI.” Indeed there is an urgent need for aneffective post-GI enforcement mechanism.Emphasising on the need for it, Mr. Subodh said,“Pochampally has got the legal protection butactual protection and the benefits flowing fromit depend on effective enforcement.”

ACTION AGAINST INFRINGEMENT

In the absence of an effective post GI mechanism,infringement of Pochampally design continuesunabated within and outside Andhra Pradesh.According to members of Tie and Dye Silk SareeManufacturers Association; there has not beenany reduction in the cases of copying and sellingPochampally Designs in the last five years. Inthe post GI phase there exists, however, anisolated example, where the infringer wasidentified and brought to the court. The APTDCand the Pochampally Tie and Dye Silk SareeManufacturer Association; both haveinformation about the case that was filed againsta trader from Surat who was imitatingPochampally designs and selling them inMumbai and Hyderabad. The suit was filed in aDelhi court. The fake saree along with theinvoice was confiscated and produced in the courtas evidence.

Eventually, the verdict was not delivered andthe case was settled out of court after the errantparty pleaded innocence on the account of hisignorance about the Act. The Pochampally Tieand Dye Silk Saree Manufacturer Associationhave serious objection to the out of courtsettlement. They asked, “Why did the Textilecommittee reached an out of court settlementwith the errant party when money for fightingthe legal battle was sanctioned by theDirectorate (Handloom and Textiles)? A verdictwould have served as a reference point for futureinfringement in similar GI infringement casesand could also act as an effective deterrent tothe potential defaulters.

IMPACT OF GI STATUS ON POCHAMPALLY

IKAT

There is hardly any evidence to suggest thatthere has been any positive impact of GI statusgranted to Pochampally Ikat. In last five years,the condition of weavers in Pochampally has onlybecome worse. The number of active looms hasreduced. Weavers are increasingly abandoningtheir looms and migrating to cities to do menialjobs like security personnel in banks, ATMcentres, offices, restaurants and shops inHyderabad. More than ten buses carryjobseekers everyday from their villages to Ramojifilm city and Hyderabad and back helping themearn around ̀ 2000 to 3000. Not only the weaversbut also the master weavers and traders arefinding it difficult to run their business. Due topoor returns, their children are not interestedin taking forward the traditional business4.

4 As told to the authors during a focused group discussion with the members of Tie and Dye Silk Saree Manufacturers Association

Geographical Indication-Pochampally Ikat13

The situation wasn’t always as bad as today.Fifteen years back, the business in Pochampallywas so good that people used to relinquish theirgovernment jobs and join Ikat business. Highlyqualified people with college degrees used toprefer joining the family business than to workas employees elsewhere. However, situationsince 2002-03 has become extremely bad. Inrecent years, the threat from mill and powerloomcopying Pochampally design increased many folddestroying the livelihoods of weavers’community. Power Mills are manufacturingprinted sarees copying Pochampally Ikat designsand selling them for ` 400 where as an originalIkat saree costs at least ` 20005. There has beenno effective curb on this unethical practice inthe post GI phase as evident from the statementof R. Bindu, president of Tie and Dye Silk SareeManufacturer Association, “We joined the moveto register Pochampally under the GI Act butthe copying of Pochampally design continuesunabated. Within 15 days, our designs get copiedand sold in metro markets. We feel the GI Acttill now has not had any impact in terms ofpreventing the unscrupulous traders fromcopying Pochampally designs and sellingimitated products in the name of Pochampally.”

In the international market, traders operatingin metro cities are exporting Pochampally Ikatbut weavers’ community in Pochampally neitherhave an idea about the market nor the capacityto reach that market. Big traders operating fromoutside Pochampally are also reaping thebenefits flowing from exports potential ofPochampally. “Neither the government nor themedia contributed proactively to brandpromotion of Pochampally Ikat in the post-GIphase to help Pochampally weavers’ communityleverage the benefits from GI registration” saidMr Yadagiri Tadaka, Saghmitra, Pochampally.

ISSUES AND RECOMMENDATIONS

● Local weaving communities do not have theresources and the technical knowledgerequired to operationalize GIs. Initialinvestment and support for these needs tocome from the Government. There is a needto set up a nodal agency to facilitate and

regulate Geographical Indications in Indiasupported by a national fund that willundertake brand promotion efforts. Thisagency needs to take up pre-GI (awarenessraising, information generation, assistancewith application process) and post-GI(promotion, brand building, regulation,infringement etc.) activities at various levels-centre, state and the community level.

● The application process for registering aproduct for GI is extremely cumbersome.Detailed technical inputs and analysis of theproducts have to be filed along with theapplication and majority of the applicantsdo not have the capacity to do so. A resourcecentre at the state level, monitored by theGI nodal agency could provideadministrative support to the potential GIapplicants.

● Dismal awareness level, especially amongthe producers community in Pochamapallyis a serious concern. Increased awarenesslevel across the sections i.e. producers,consumers, retailers etc. can havetremendous multiplier effect in realisingbenefits of GI. Targeted awarenessgeneration workshops and capacity buildingworkshops should be held to make thestakeholders aware and empowered withregards to GI. Minimum awareness raisingefforts have to be institutionalised at thecommunity level, which could be taken upby local bodies and monitored by the GI nodal

5 As told by the veteran weaver Shri Ananat Ramalu

14Geographical Indication-Pochampally Ikat

agency. These activities have to begin beforethe community decides to register its goodsfor GI.

● One of the challenges faced by communitieswith existing GI registered goods is the lackof collective ownership. The main reason forthis is that all the producers, producing theregistered GI product in the community arenot registered as “authorised users”. The GIregistration for Pochampally Ikat covers onlyvillages in Nalgonda and Warangal. Manyweavers in other districts and villagesweaving Pochampally Ikat have been left out.The GI nodal agency needs to play asignificant role to facilitate registration ofthese producers, in order to strengthen thecollective ownership of GI goods by thecommunity.

● Only the word “Pochampally Ikat” has beenregistered as GI without a logo. There is aneed to develop and register a GI logo forPochampally Ikat for better brand visibility,enhanced marketing opportunities and

REFERENCES:

● Akshara Baseline Assessment (2006); Current Reality Assessment of Bhoodan Pochampally

● Application Document for GI registration of Pochampally Ikkat submitted to GI Registry Office,Chennai

●●●●● Capacity Building of Pochampally Stakeholders for Post GI Initiatives, Draft Proposal by Sangamitra,Pochampally, October, 2009

● Gautam. K and Bahl.N(2010); Geographical Indications of India: Socio-Economic and DevelopmentIssues, Policy 2, All India Artisans and Craftworkers welfare Association (AIACA).

● Nayak. P; Role of Geographical Indications for Economic Empowerment and Human Development:Evidences from a GI registered Product

● Rangnekar, D,(2003); ‘The Socio-Economics of Geographical Indications: A Review of EmpiricalEvidence from Europe’, UNCTAD/ICTSD

● Roy, Medhi et.al.(2010), Ikat Textile Craft in Nalgonda, Andhradesh in “Environment Occupationaland safety in the craft sector in India, Baseline study of selected craft clusters”

reduced manoeuvring by unethical producersand traders. It is a known fact that thePochampally designs have huge marketpotential and it is for this reason that thesedesigns are copied by the print mills acrossthe country and also by the power loomowners within the district, with minormodifications. This adversely affects theweavers, as their sales are affected with theinflow of the cheap products. Consumers arealso duped and are deprived of genuineproducts. However, no action has been takenbarring one instance. Attempts should bemade to improve the product confidence inthe domestic as well as international markets.

● The GI nodal agency should have a separatecommittee for the purpose to address a gamutof inter-related issues like quality monitoring,standard maintenance, infringement checkand legal remedies, consumers’ confidenceand trust building on GI products. Therefore,enforcement of the Act must be strengthened.The GI nodal agency needs to facilitateeffective implementation of the GI act.

All India Artisans and Craftworkers Welfare Association (AIACA)18, Community Centre,3rd Floor, East of kailash, New Delhi-110065

Tel: 91-11-26416492/93/94(extn: 115), Fax: 91-11-26416491www.aiacaonline.org