Innovators at Sher-i-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences (SKUAST) have developed a modern charkha with capacity to give two and a half times more output than the traditional spinning wheel.
The modern charkha is expected to revive Pashmina spinning in Kashmir by attracting women, who have left this practice due to poor returns. On the traditional charkha, a daylong spinning gets the artisan not more than Rs 80.
Director Research, SKAUST-K, Dr Sarfaraz Ahmad, who was part of the team that innovated the modern charkha said that it would help increase income of women artisans by 2.5 times. “We have distributed this charkha which costs around Rs 5000 at various places,” he said. “We also impart training on this charkha which is different from the traditional one, and easy to operate.”
Hand spinning of Pashmina used to be a source of income for thousands of women in Kashmir.
Director Handicrafts, Handloom, Mahmood Ahmad Shah said that the Kashmir Pashmina has been accorded Geographical Indicator (GI) in 2008. “The GI mandates the use of hand spun and hand woven Pashmina with fibre thickness under 16 microns for the making of Pashmina shawl. It has been noticed that the art of hand spinning of Pashmina yarn has been on decline due to meagre wages paid to the spinners.”
He added: “Enhancement of the wage component shall be helpful to revive the art of hand spinning. This modern charka has been invented and patented by SKUAST (K) and presently costs around Rs 5000.”
He said charkha provides a dignified and modern way of spinning Pashmina. “I have also taken up the issue of low wages with the exporters who have assured of all possible support as our traditional craft is our identity. If we won’t protect it then who will?” he asked.
Upbeat Pashmina workers
“Main reason for women getting disillusioned by this traditional trade is very less returns. We are now hopeful that the modern charkha will revive this traditional Pashmina spinning and attract female folk towards it,” said Khateeja who spins Pashmina on her traditional charkha but is upbeat to try her hands on the modern charkha.
Fake Pashmina
The Pashmina workers have been also hit by the cheap and fake Pashmina being sold in the market which is bringing bad name to the trade.
“Irony is that these unscrupulous traders are selling Amritsar machine made shawls at Rs 200 to Rs 1000. It all depends on their sweet will. There is no quality control no price mechanism. What matters is how good they are in presenting their fake articles,” said an artisan.
The impact of this unscrupulous trade is that now one of Kashmir’s oldest handicraft legends and legacy, the Pashmina, is threatened by its imitations as the high-priced handmade fabric is increasingly being eased out from markets by its cheap, machine-made namesake, experts said.
There are laws in J&K to protect the Pashmina shawl, which was once presented by Napoleon Bonaparte to his lady love, Josephine. However these laws are only on paper and tourists continue to be cheated by passing fake articles as genuine Kashmir, experts said.
“I was shocked to hear that a Pashmina shawl is priced at Rs 500. Being a frequent visitor to Kashmir from 1990s I know how much effort and hard work go into making a fine Pashmina shawl. But these guys are ruining the brand of Kashmiri Pashmina,” said Jyoti Nair, a Pune- based traveller whose mother had bought for Rs 1000 a fake Pashmina shawl which lasted only for a month.
The laws protecting the genuine Pashmina shawl are observed more in breach as the machine-made rival is giving a run for its money to the original handmade Pashmina. Local artisans allege that nexus between powerful traders and officials is ruining the handicraft sector.
“Despite ban power looms are used for manufacturing shawls which are then passed as Kashmiri Pashmina, similarly outside manufacturers shawls are presented as handmade shawls of Kashmir, both these factors have ruined shawl weavers,” said Bashir Ahmad an artisan
“It is all because of the failure of the handicraft department. They do nothing. What is their role? I have failed to understand so far what they do for the welfare of handicraft sector or artisans apart from drawing hefty salaries,” he added.
Pashmina is a woolen cloth made from the fleece of the “Capra haircus” Himalayan mountain goat, often referred to as the “Pashmina goat”.
A testing centre had been setup by the union commerce ministry at the Crafts Development Institute (CDI) at the Baghi Ali Mardan Khan here for testing the purity and genuineness of handmade Pashmina. The CDI is an autonomous body created by the central and state governments to promote handicrafts in the state. But local artisans allege that the centre exists only in its name.
GI tag
In order to preserve the centuries old art of spinning and weaving of genuine Pashmina fabric, and to maintain international standards, the government of India (Under WTO) has established a quality mark for genuine Pashmina that will identify items the genuine fibre known as Pashm obtained from the goat living in Ladakh of Kashmir region. Geographical Indication (GI) Label on Kashmir Pashmina is a US patent stamp on the original ‘Kashmir Pashmina’ fabric or its products and is known as the G.I Mark.
GI Mark is a stamp which is put on any woven product like scarves, stoles, shawls, coats, or any manufactured product from the real Pashmina material which is Hand-spun, Hand-woven, 12 to 16 microns fibre diameter.
It is done at Craft Development Institute (CDI), at Srinagar, Kashmir. The Kashmir Pashmina products go through quality control checks using electronic microscopy, physical and chemical test before stamping on each product.
The stamp is patented in which one can see 100% Genuine and Registered Pashmina under U.V light and green sparkling under laser light. The registration number on the stamp can be tracked online i.e. the manufacturer of product, his phone number and address.
The stamping is done on products of those Pashmina artisans who are registered under the GI Authority of India head office at Chennai.
Kashmir was given that privilege to stamp their Pashmina for the reasons that only women folk of Kashmir can make a thin yarn out of this delicate fibre on this blue planet as Pashmina fibre does not come on yarn making machines.
Its origin is in Kashmir (Cashmere). Only Ladakh region of Kashmir, which is also the highest plateau on the earth, has goats called Changthang which can make ‘Pashm” or fibre of 12 to 16 microns of diameter. Other countries’ cashmere goats make more than 20 microns diameter of fibre and that is then mixed with nylon to be spun and woven on machines.