Exhibition — Component of the Development of Handicrafts Scheme

What is the Exhibition component of the Development of Handicrafts scheme?

The Exhibition component of the Development of Handicrafts scheme is run by the District Industries Centre under the Department of Industries and Commerce, Government of Puducherry. The District Industries Centre states its purpose directly: in order to boost the marketability of handicrafts and to improve sales, exhibitions are either conducted by the Department or artisans are sponsored to attend exhibitions locally or in other states.

The problem it solves is one of distance and cash. A Puducherry pith craft maker or a terracotta artisan can sell far more at a ten-day craft fair in Delhi or Kolkata than in a month at home, but the train fare, ten days of food and lodging, stall rent and the freight on a crate of fragile goods all have to be paid before the first sale. Very few artisans can carry that. Under this component the Department carries it instead.

What does the scheme pay?

According to the District Industries Centre's own exhibition page, the pattern of assistance is:

A note on rates. Aggregator listings still carry an older version of this component, showing 2nd class train fare and daily allowances of Rs 300, Rs 200 and Rs 150. The District Industries Centre's live page carries the higher figures set out above. Since rates are revised from time to time, confirm the applicable rate with the District Industries Centre before you travel, and do not budget on a figure taken from a third-party site.

Who is eligible to participate?

Craftspersons who can apply:

• Any artisan who has a handicrafts unit in the Union Territory of Puducherry.
• Who is a resident of the Union Territory of Puducherry.
• The scheme is open to all craftspersons with handicraft units; there is no formal educational qualification and no income ceiling stated for this component, unlike the monthly grant to old craftspersons, which carries an income limit of Rs 75,000 a year.

The crafts practised in the Union Territory, as listed by the District Industries Centre, include stone carving, pith craft, wood carving, serpentine stone carving, terracotta, Tanjore painting, leather goods, crochet, papier mâché, sea shell items, palm leaf articles, embroidery and appliqué work, mat weaving, jute crafts, pottery and clay toys, cloth and stuffed dolls, decorative wax candles, hand knitted hammocks, cane and bamboo, glazed art pottery, dry flowers, jute and paper lamp shades, wire craft and fibre craft.

Who is not eligible:

• Non-residents of Puducherry, and artisans whose handicrafts unit is located outside the Union Territory.
• Traders and retailers who sell handicrafts but do not make them.
• Registered societies applying for themselves. A society's route is the separate Grant to Handicrafts Societies component, which pays Rs 2,00,000 a year for five years to eligible societies and Rs 10,00,000 a year to PUDUMAI Handicrafts Artisans Society for conducting exhibitions.
• Applicants who did not respond to the call for the specific exhibition, since participation is organised exhibition by exhibition rather than as a standing entitlement.

What documents are required?

How to apply for exhibition sponsorship

1. Watch for the call. The District Industries Centre sponsors artisans for specific exhibitions, so check the notice board and news pages at dic.py.gov.in, and ask the office when the next exhibitions are scheduled.
2. Print the prescribed application form from the application forms download area at dic.py.gov.in/application-forms-download-area.
3. Fill in all mandatory fields, paste the passport-sized photograph (signed across), and attach self-attested copies of the residence proof, proof of the handicrafts unit, Aadhaar, bank passbook and any artisan identity card or award certificate.
4. Visit the General Manager, District Industries Centre, Industrial Estate, Thattanchavady, Puducherry 605009, on a working day during office hours — phone +91-413-2248391, 2249392 or 2248987, email dic_pdy@bsnl.in, and submit the duly filled and signed form with enclosures.
5. Collect the acknowledgement. The office enters the application in the receipt register and assigns a unique number used in all further references.
6. After the exhibition, submit the bills: travel tickets and the actual transportation cost of the handicrafts goods from the unit to the exhibition spot, so that reimbursement can be processed.

Artisans in Karaikal can apply through the Functional Manager, District Industries Centre, Rural Industrial Estate, Kottucherry, Karaikal 609609, on +91-4368-266467.

How to check your application or payment status

1. Quote the unique application number from the acknowledgement.
2. Contact the General Manager, District Industries Centre, Thattanchavady, on +91-413-2248391, 2248987 or 2249392, or email dic[dot]pon[at]nic[dot]in.
3. For post-exhibition reimbursement, ask whether the travel tickets and transport bills have been passed, since that is usually the stage at which payment waits.
4. Confirm that the bank account details on the application match your passbook, because allowances are credited to that account.

Practical points that decide a claim

• Keep the original tickets. Travelling allowance is restricted to AC 3-tier train fare, so a claim without tickets cannot be settled at all, and travel by a higher class will be reimbursed only up to the AC 3-tier entitlement.
• Get the freight bill in your own name. Reimbursement is of the actual expenditure for transporting handicrafts goods from the unit to the exhibition spot, and a bill in a transporter's informal slip form is hard to pass.
• Note the city classification. Whether the exhibition city is an A1 city decides between Rs 1,000 and Rs 600 a day, and this is settled by the Department's classification, not by the artisan's description.
• Count the days honestly. The daily allowance is per day per craftsperson for the exhibition period, and inflated day counts are the most common cause of a reduced settlement.

Why exhibition claims are reduced or rejected

• No handicrafts unit in Puducherry, so the core eligibility fails.
• Residence in Puducherry not established.
• Tickets or transport bills not produced after the exhibition.
• Travel by a class above entitlement, which is capped at AC 3-tier for non-awardees.
• The artisan did not attend the full exhibition period claimed.
• A trader applies in place of a working craftsperson.
• Application not filed against a specific exhibition call.

Grievance redressal

The District Industries Centre's Citizen's Charter, published at dic.py.gov.in, sets out its service standards for this and other handicrafts schemes. Grievances go through the Industries and Commerce Department's grievance redressal mechanism at industry.py.gov.in/grievance-redressal-mechanism, and escalate to the Director, Directorate of Industries and Commerce, Industrial Estate, Thattanchavady, Puducherry 605009, on +91-413-2248476, and thereafter to the Secretary to Government (Industries and Commerce), Chief Secretariat, Puducherry 605001, on +91-413-2336115.

Related components for artisans

The Exhibition component sits inside the wider Development of Handicrafts scheme. Alongside it, the District Industries Centre runs Training in Handicrafts, a six-month Gurukulam-style course for residents aged 18 to 35, with a stipend of Rs 4,500 a month, applications in August and training starting in December, and a Monthly Grant to Old Craftspersons, paying Rs 5,000 a month to an artisan aged 60 or above who has practised the craft for at least five years in Puducherry and whose family income is below Rs 75,000 a year, with Rs 2,500 a month continuing to the surviving spouse. A working artisan will often be eligible for more than one of these in the course of a career.