Government to revive the Pilibhit’s traditional flute industry

New Delhi, Apr 15 (KNN) In a bid to revive the traditional flute industry of Pilibhit, the Union Ministry for MSMEs have recently come up with a set of initiatives. The government plans to promote the flute artisans by helping them in building their own platforms to produce and sell their flutes through a flute cluster under Scheme of fund for regeneration of traditional industries (SFURTI).

Flute industry has been on a decline over the past few years. Talking to KNN, Shadab Nabi, manager at Prince Flute Industries welcomed the Government’s initiative. “8 to 10 years ago, there were almost 250 families involved in the business of making flutes, but these numbers have gone down drastically, at present its just 30-40 families in Pilbhit that make flutes, Government’s initiative will help revive this dying industry” he said.

For the implementation of the plan, the KVIC (khadi and village industries commission) will function as the nodal agency and Grunt Thornton; a Delhi based organization will provide technical assistance to the industry. Also a Shahjahanpur-based NGO, Vinoba Sevashram will manage the plan at local level. The main focus of the plan includes utilizing remains of bamboo in manufacturing ice cream sticks, agarbatti sticks etc. to generate additional earnings.

According to a KVIC survey conducted in August last year to explore the financial condition of the flute artisans in the area. The findings showed that the average daily wage of an artisan ranged between Rs 67 and Rs 175, following which a plan was initiated.

Under the revival plan, a trust would be formed; the trust would vest 70% of the management in the hands of the flute artisans. The revival plan also includes brining in state-of-the-art machinery and equipment for the flute industry. The KVIC will play an instrumental role in the marketing of the flutes. Saxena further unformed that a team of KVIC and Vinoba Sevashram is already exploring markets in many states including Jaipur, Mathura, New Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad. (KNN/ DA)