Surat's jari makers seek to certify product quality

The jari industry of Surat, which is grappling for survival, has decided to certify the quality of its products.

"The traditional jari is facing cut-throat competition from cheaper alternatives such as plastic and metallic jari. There are also several manufacturers who produce substandard traditional jari. On account of this, the manufacturers producing standard quality of jari are losing out," Raman Jariwala, a leading jari businessman of Surat, said.

"To avoid such a situation, jari producers have decided to get quality certification, something similar to Agmark and ISI, for their products. We are confident that this move would help the traditional jari develop a better image, and also enable clients to differentiate between good and bad quality. The demand for traditional jari would pick up due to this. We expect the demand to double once the quality certification is in place," he said.

"On account of recession, we were looking for something to bring about a change in the situation. Most of the manufacturers have welcomed the idea. We believe the concept of certification would become a reality within the next two months," he added.

Former textile minister, and Member of Parliament from Surat, Kashiram Rana has also welcomed the idea.

"Trust is the foremost requirement for any product to succeed. Quality certification will be a type of branding, and help jari manufacturers develop trust in the customers. The move would help improve the overall situation in the industry, and enable it reverse its flagging fortunes," Rana said.

"The number of jari machines in Surat has doubled in the last five years or so, which shows that traditional jari is still in demand. Traditional jari is facing competition from plastic and metallic jari, but more than this, the slump in the jari industry is more because of the fall in quality and poor business skills," he said.

"The quality of jari has slipped mainly because of the increase in prices of gold, silver and other raw material. On account of this, the quantity of gold and silver used in manufacturing jari has been reduced, which has affected the quality and also resulted in lesser demand. At the same time, as the number of machines has increased, the production of jari has gone up, which has created all the problems. Technology upgradation and modernisation are also the need of the hour," he said.

Rana pointed out that lack of business skills is also hurting the industry.

"Until some years ago, the jari industry had seen people from as far as Bangalore, Salem, Varanasi, Delhi and other places coming to Surat to buy jari. On account of the slump in demand, the situation has completely changed in the last five years. Today, the manufacturers themselves travel to these places to sell their products. The manufacturers show their need to sell, and hence the jari is unable to fetch good prices. There are also certain jari manufacturers, who work only on orders, and are managing to get good orders and run the business properly," he said.

"Lower prices mean lower margins, and hence the slump in quality, leading to lesser demand and recession. The industry is caught in this 'chakravyuh' and has been unable to find a way out. If the jari industry does not wake up today, its existence itself is in danger," he said, adding, "The quality certification move is a novel concept. With it, the jari industry can look forward to a better future."

It is worth mentioning here that the jari industry is in existence in Surat for the last 150 years, long before the textile or diamond sectors were even born in Surat.

While the textile and diamond sectors have flourished a great deal, the jari industry has witnessed a constant slump. At present, over one lakh people are directly dependent on the jari industry for their livelihood.