The Magic Touch of Golden Hands - Handicrafts of Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh is a state where the skills of art and craft is worshiped as gods and passed on from one generation to another. It is the land of art and artisans. The state has patronized art forms since the days of Moguls. Nawabs of Awadh and other nobles later carried the tradition forward. This is the primary reason why from Varanasi to Agra, every small or big town is famous for some or other craft in Uttar Pradesh.

The arts and crafts of Uttar Pradesh are not famous only in India but all over the world. Right from the silken saris to the earthen pottery, carpets weaving to chikankari embroidery, the hands of the legendary artisans and the master craftsmen have the magic to turn the ravage into gold. The silken touch with the masterly style produces the best sketches, designs, patterns and structure that are unique in their own nature captivating the hearts of every one who looks at them. Each region of U.P. deals with some specific art or craft.

Art Metal Brass Ware

Moradabad produces large quantities of art metal ware. It is especially famous for its colour enameling and intricate engraving. There are two types of engravings one is called nakshi that is done on the tinned surface while other is known as khudai and is done on lac coated unpolished brass. The pointed steel pencil is used to make design in khudai type. The metal brass ware consists of the traditional vases, Ganeshas, laughing Buddhas, stools, trays and contemporary beautiful bowls. The Natraja is the most beautiful article in the brass ware to be gifted and kept as a decorative item.

Glass Ware

Firozbad has become synonymous with glassware. Earlier only glass bangles where produced but with the help of sophisticated machines now  various glassware articles are produced. The entire population is involved in this industry. Varanasi specializes in making glass beads and exports most of these.

Similarly, thin glass plates are produced, which, after cutting into pieces called Tikklu are used by women to decorate their fabrics. In Saharanpur, intriguing glass toys filled with coloured liquid called Rachkora and the mouth piece of hukka are produced. The glass bangles with multitude of colours matching with every dress is a most used ornament in the state.

Pottery
 

Khurja has evolved its own style in the earthenware. By adding colour to the dull and unattractive pottery khurja gave a lease of life to it. The shades and the designs in contrast to its background can attract the attention of any person having aesthetic sense. Apart from Khurja , Rampur Surahis along with the water containers from Meerut and Hapur are famous all around the nation for their shapes , designs, colours and their ability to keep the water cold even during the harsh summer days. Its attractiveness calls every one.

Embroidery- Chikankari  
 

The delicate art of embroidery has its origin in the city of Nawabs. Its name has been derived from the Persian word 'chikan' meaning cloth wrought by needlework. Chikankari is done on fabrics like chiffon, organza, doruya, organdie, muslin, and silk to produce beautiful sarees and salwar kameez. The chikan sarees and salwar kameez are not only fascinating to look at, but are comfortable to wear during the summer months.

Embroidery-Zardozi

The craft of zardozi or silver and gold embroidery was brought into India by Delhi's Turko-Afghan sultans in the 12th century. Down the ages, the craft became equally popular with the wealthy Hindu, Muslim, and European classes. Today several  families in Varanasi, Agra, Lucknow, Rampur, Bareilly, and Farrukhabad, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, have revived this old craft to supply exquisite zari embroidered bridal outfits and salwar kameezes to boutiques round the country and abroad.

Marble and Soft Stone craft

The hub of the stone craft in india is Agra and the best example of which is Taj Mahal. The art of carving the thin marble slabs to make the fine lattice windows is the most difficult for the craftsmen. The other marble products available in agra are mirror frames with lace like fringes, fretwork balustrades, bowls, garden furniture, etc. The another specialty of the Agra is the inlay work on marble with the colorful and precious stones to form a multitude of mosaics.            

 Carpets

The carpets manufactured at Bhadoi, Shahjahanpur and Mirzapur comes after the Persian and Arabian carpets The majority of population in these areas are affiliated with the profession of carpet weaving. With the exotic designs of flora and fauna, the industry has succeeded in attracting not only the national market but international market as well.  

Other Handicrafts

There are various other Handicrafts items for which Uttar Pradesh is known all over India as well as abroad such as wooden furniture and decoratives which have given a new dimension to home furnishing. Saharanpur and Nagina are two important centres. Kanpur and Agra are internationally known for its leather crafts, shoes and other items. The hand printed items of Farrukhabad are also famous and a craze among the Europeans .The printings are mostly done in two patterns namely Polka Dots and Tree of Wisdom.

Export of handicrafts
 

India is one of the important suppliers of handicrafts to the world market which is largely due to handicrafts of Uttar Pradesh. The state has 45% share in total exports.

 

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Year	Handicrafts export of India	Handicrafts export of  U. P.	% Share of UP   in total export
2008-09	8183.12	3630.00	44.90
2009-10	8718.94	3923.00	45.00
2010-11	10533.96	4723.00	44.84

                                                                                                   (Source : Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts)

 

Handicrafts is a labour intensive industry with high potential of employment for poorer section of the society in rural areas. Its is economically important because of low capital investment, high value addition and negligible import content and high potential for export earnings, as such,  the Govt. is providing a lot of Institutional support for promotion of sales/export of Handicrafts.

R. B.  Verma,

Dy. Sr. Manager

Udyog Bandhu

Mou between govt. of U.P and L.I.C. : A Positive Step for providing sustainable income through annuity payment for 33 years / one-time-payment to land-owners whose land has been acquired for the Developmental Projects in Uttar Pradesh

With a view to adequately compensate the land-owners, whose land is acquired for various developmental projects and to ensure sustained income for the farmers/ landowners and their families, GoUP has come up with Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy, as contained in G.O.(s) No.: 1307/1-13-10-20(29)/ 2004, Dated 03.09.2010 and 632/ek-13-11-20(29)/ 2004, Dated 02.06.2011. The policy provides for annuity payment for a period of 33 years or consolidated Rehabilitation Grant Payment in one go to affected farmers/land-owners. The policy aims to spread the feeling amongst the land-owners whose land has been acquired that they are also a part of the project.

This policy is therefore, a positive step taken by the State Govt to protect the interests of the land-owners and to provide them the other facilities. The policy empowers the land-owner to seek a better price and gives a choice to him to decide how he wishes to accept compensation.

In its bid to ensure fulfilment of commitments made through its Land Acquisition Policy, the Govt. of U.P. has gone a step further and signed an MoU with the LIC of India on 15th July, 2011.

The salient features of the MoU are enunciated hereunder:

i.    The Government of U.P. normally acquires around 5,000 hectares land per year for the developmental projects under Land Acquisition Act, 1894.

ii.   It will ensure the continuity of payment of 'Varshiki' (Annuity) to the affected farmers/land-holders under the policy.

iii.  Under the policy, the Government shall make the following payments to the affected farmers/landholders:

 

DETAILS OF G.O.(s)	PAYMENTS PER ACRE (IN RS.)
	ANNUITY			One time Payment in lieu of Annuity, hereinafter referred to as Consolidated Rehabilitation Grant Payment
	Annual payment	Increment, per annum	Tenure
G.O. No.: 1307/1-13-10-20(29)/ 2004, Dated 03.09.2010	20,000/-	600/=	33 years	2,40,000 /-
G.O. No.: 632/ek-13-11-20(29)/ 2004, Dated 02.06.2011	23,000/-	800/=	33 years	2,76,000/-

Iv.   For avoidance of doubt, it has been made clear that :

·    Land-owners whose land is acquired on or after 03.09.2010 and upto 01.06.2011 shall be eligible for payment of annuity or Consolidated Rehabilitation Grant Payment  as per provisions of G.O. dated 03.09.2010

·   Land-owners whose land is acquired on or after 02.06.2011 shall be eligible for payment of annuity or Consolidated Rehabilitation Grant Payment  as per provisions of G.O. dated 02.06.2011

v   Under the MOU, Government  makes payment of the premium based on the assumption of average age of beneficiaries to be 45 years, in lieu of the services provided by LIC.

vi   LIC offers to provide the services of making annuity or Consolidated Rehabilitation Grant Payment  after having obtained the product specific approval known as Group Flexible Income Plan from Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA)

vii. The concerned District Magistrate/Collector implements the Scheme and discharge the role and responsibilities for and on behalf of the Government.

ROLE OF THE GOVERNMENT

• The Government makes the payment through concerned DM(s)/Collector(s) to LIC based on the land acquired under the Act within three months of passing of award under the Act.
• The payment of premium to the LIC is to be made in respect of each award in single instalment together with list of beneficiaries.
• Provide database of the Beneficiaries alongwith their successors/nominee details, the due dates of annuity payment to them and consent for accepting Annuity or consolidated Rehabilitation Grant Payment  to the LIC.
• For avoidance of doubt, it is made clear that the payment of amount towards premium shall be made by the concerned land acquiring body to the concerned District Magistrate/Collector who shall pay the said premium amount to LIC on behalf of Government.

PAYMENTS OF PREMIUM TO LIC

The concerned District Magistrate/Collector for the land acquired in his District shall make the following payments of premiums to LIC for payments to Beneficiaries under the Scheme as per consent of Beneficiaries:

DETAILS OF G.O.	PAYMENTS PER ACRE (IN RS.)
	Towards Annuity	Towards Consolidated Rehabilitation Grant Payment
G.O. No.: 1307/1-13-10-20(29)/2004, Dated 03.9.2010	Rs. 3,42,023/= as per the quote of LIC	Rs. 2,40,000 /=
G.O.: 632/ek-13-11-20(29)/2004, Dated 02.6.2011	Rs.4,07,679/= as per the quote of LIC	Rs. 2,76,000/=

            The Government, through District Magistrate/Collector makes the first payment of premium to LIC within 15 days, for atleast 50 Beneficiaries alongwith the consent of Beneficiaries & their other details.

ROLE OF LIC

·    LIC makes the Annuity payment under the Scheme to each Beneficiary, irrespective of their age.

·    The First payout of Annuity to the Beneficiary is to be paid by the LIC to the Beneficiary opting for annuity payment within three months of receiving the premium, and thereafter, the payments under the Scheme shall be made annually.

·    The Consolidated Rehabilitation Grant to the Beneficiary opting for one time payment under the Scheme is to be paid by the LIC within three months of receiving the payment from Government.

·    The date of making first Annuity payment to the Beneficiary by the LIC is the Due Date for making payments in the subsequent years also.

COMMITMENTS OF LIC

·    LIC  issues individual Certificates with distinctive numbers to all the Beneficiaries and their successors enrolled and finalized by the concerned District Magistrate/ Collector.

·     A Toll Free No.18001805080 has recently been established by LIC to facilitate communication in Hindi during office-hours of all working days.

·    LIC has fully equipped and operational offices at all District Headquarters of Uttar Pradesh to operate the Scheme.

MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS SERVICE

       LIC  provides district-wise MIS Reports to the Government on regular intervals.

PROJECT MONITORING MECHANISM

      Government to constitute a Project Monitoring Committee which would meet once in every three months, to be chaired by Chief Secretary–GoUP with Infrastructure & Industrial Development Commissioner, and Principal Secretaries 0f Industries, Finance, Law & Revenue (as Convenor) & as members; to review & monitor the progress of the Scheme.  A representative of LIC shall also be present, and provide all information for meetings.

OTHER TERMS AND CONDITIONS

•       Government is also entitled to include Beneficiaries of the Scheme with effect from 03.09.2010 to the Policy issued under the Group Income Flexible Plan of LIC for making payments.
•       In the event the Government revises its Annuity rates under the Scheme during the period of MOU, then LIC shall accordingly on a proportionate basis revise its quotes for Annuity payments.   

With every care taken by the Government, this MOU will prove to be a stepping stone to safeguard the rights and benefits of land-owners. It is envisaged that with the involvement of a service provider like LIC in Annuity payment scheme, hassle free and smooth payments will be made to the beneficiaries or their nominees throughout the stipulated period of 33 Years. This will go a long way in providing project affected people with a sustained income and sense of financial security and contribute to over all socio-economic development of the state.   

R.C. Bhatt

Udyog Bandhu

Get Digitally Signed Khatauni Easily in Uttar Pradesh

Citizens spend their enormous time and energy to access Government information and services; whether they require services related to land, housing or health. As a forerunner in implementation of e-Governance and IT Enabled Services for its citizens, Government of Uttar Pradesh has initiated diverse measures by introducing information technology concepts in service delivery to citizens.

The need for land related records is an inevitable requirement of each and every citizen. The Department of Revenue is burdened with millions of such records scattered in all parts of the districts from Tehsil to State level in manual forms in numerous files. It became imperative to digitize such records for enabling easy access to all concerned. Keeping this in mind, the department of Information Technology of the State Government had initiated digitizing revenue records. An e-governance application specially for farmers in which a software (‘Bhulekh’) for computerization of land records of all the tehsils of Uttar Pradesh has been rolled-out across the State.

The State Government has recently taken another step forward by introducing a people friendly measure by which any citizen may be able to obtain the digitally signed computerized khatauni through the nearest Common Service Centre. This is being done after analyzing the difficulties being faced by the common man in collecting their revenue records by visiting the tehsil, which may be far away from his home, thereby involving enormous time, money and energy.

 

The procedure for obtaining digitally signed khatauni through Common Service Centre is depicted hereunder :

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The applicant shall visit the nearest Common Service Centre (CSC) and submit an application on a prescribed format, which is available at the centre.

Certain details of the land viz. gata number, account number etc. need to be provided in the application form. In case he does not have these particulars, the operator can obtain the same from the departmental website. These can be verified by the applicant on the spot and in case of deviations, the operator assists the applicant by informing the procedure for getting the deviations rectified.

The applicant needs to deposit a prescribed fee of Rs. 25/- for which a computerized acknowledgement shall be given. This will contain a unique reference number, which can be used for future references.

The format shall then be digitized through the software by the operator, after which a printout of the application shall be provided to the applicant for verification by way of signature/thumb impression.

The operator shall forward the application on the same day through the software electronically to the concerned registrar kanungos of that particular tehsil for disposal

The concerned registrar kanungo shall examine the application and upload the status on the web portal. The details shall be updated from time to time. The applicant can obtain the status at any time through any CSC.

The competent authority shall electronically forward the digitally signed khatauni to the CSC. In case of objections/rejections, the same shall also be sent electronically.

The prescribed time limit for the entire procedure has been kept as a maximum of 3 days from the date of application.

The applicant can collect the printout of digitally signed khatauni by approaching the CSC.

The earlier procedure of obtaining khatauni by visiting concerned tehsil shall remain in force.

A Government Order has been issued recently by the State Government for implementation of this service.

Some highlights …..

Services to citizens at their doorsteps for which otherwise they have to go to block, tehsil and district level offices

Saving of travelling and other expenses for the citizen

Can avail Government services in a transparent and time bound manner

Reduced interactions with Government officials in a hassle free manner

Better monitoring system for officers to track progress of disposal of applications

By introducing this service, the Government proves its intention of reforming the governance to provide efficient, convenient and transparent services to the citizens through Information & Communication Technologies. It is expected that would certainly pave the way for a continuous optimization of government service delivery and governance.

This service would be available to the citizens of the state soon.

K.S. Prasad

Udyog Bandhu