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John Ballyn
Independent Consultant to Cultural Sector Enterprises
February 21st, 2006
The Jodhpur Concensus was indeed the precursor to the Salvador, Brazil meeting working towards the establishment of ICCI / CIIC.
ILO, UNCTAD, ITC UNESCO and most notably Gilberto Gil, Minister of Culture in Brazil were the driving forces behind that Salvador meeting.
I agree with Ashoke’s diagnosis of the Indian situation, which, sadly, is not unique. In many countries artisans are dominated and controlled by entrepreneurs, whose prime interest is that the artisans remain unorganised, disadvantaged and submissive. Most associations related to Government support are interested in maximisation of foreign currency as the benchmark of success. Artisans lose out in every way.
Does not the Crafts Council of India have any leverage with government? A Crafts Council could be an appropriate body to take the task of creating and implementing a programme of protection for cultural heritage. Crafts Revival is another body which might consider taking on this activity. Either of them could research and draft a plan for setting such a department in place. This plan could be presented to World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) as a dramatic project which might tempt them to fund it. If WIPO would put money in then the government of India might be persuaded to put up half as well.
With regard to participatory schemes for design protection, may I suggest visiting the Anti-Copying in Design (ACID) web site: www.acid.uk.com
This is a membership IPP service. It has graduated registration payments for members, determined by the number of workers in the production unit. The lowest fee level is for an individual artisan, upwards to the highest fee for some hundreds of workers.
This means that membership fees are proportional to income/turnover, being fairer than the standard rates for product protection costs per item. ACID has achieved some notable successes. You could consider a similar body in India. It could be started in Delhi, possibly in collaboration with ACID itself, and be promoted and expanded as demand and interest grows.
UK artisans with whom I have spoken believe it to be a useful addition to their business practices.
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