Small units of Himachal Pradesh that make handloom woven Kullu shawls and whose products are being copied in the Ludhiana belt finally can get relief, thanks to the Geographical Indication of Goods Act, 1999.
As Kullu shawl is registered under the Geographical Indication(GI) of Goods Act 1999, the Act will prevent manufacturers from outside the state from using the moniker "Kullu shawl".
According to the Act, the locally woven Kullu shawls with the GI mark could use the description "Kullu Shawl" and any other shawl manufactured from places other than the origin could invite penalty up to Rs 2 lakh or imprisonment up to three years or both.
Prior to "Kullu shawls" getting protection under the GI Act, local weavers were facing tough times from powerloom shawls manufactured in Ludhiana that were being sold in the tourist destinations of Himachal Pradesh under the name "Kullu shawl".
The imitations not only flooded the market with cheap and inferior varieties of shawls but also offered huge discounts to tourists.
Also Himachal Pradesh being an important tourist destination, the irony remained that tourist were not able to distinguish between authentic hand-woven Kullu shawls and their poor imitations.
The competition has not only resulted in dwindling the number of weavers in Kullu region significantly but also forced them to diversify into other handloom products.
Bhutti Weavers Co-operative Society Ltd (Bhuttico), one of such small scale industries with interests in hand-woven Kullu shawls and employing around 500 local weavers, owing to pressure from imitation had to diversify into other products including ready-made garments, woollen jackets, Kullu caps, and knitted socks.
Although B S Thakur, MD of Bhuttico, maintains that diversification has been a part of the company's expansion plans and not a result of competition as Bhuttico has somehow managed to save itself from imitations.
The company at the moment is not only selling its shawls across country but also exporting its products to countries like Spain, England, Italy, France and Israel.
However, Thakur expresses hope that now with hand-woven "Kullu shawl" getting trademark, it is a welcome step for the slow dying art, which otherwise could have buckled under the pressure of cheap and inferior qualities of shawls.
An official from HP State Handloom and Handicrafts Development Co-operative Federation (HIMBUNKAR) says that with "Kullu shawl" getting included under Geographical Indication of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, this welcome step needs to be implemented fast.
The Kullu Shawl Weaver Association,which is responsible for implementation of the Act, is busy identifying the number of local household and commercial weavers whose shawls could be given a GI mark to protect them from imitations.
