‘Women form 60% of work force in GI-tagged handicrafts in east UP’

VARANASI: As the World Intellectual Property Day-2023 (April 26) is being celebrated on the theme – ‘Women and IP: Accelerating Innovation and Creativity’ this year, the Varanasi region of the eastern UP boasts of producing at least 10 women state awardees in the field of Geographical Indication (GI) certified handicrafts. The World Intellectual Property Day is celebrated every year on 26 April.
“The women constitute nearly 60% of the work force engaged in GI tagged handicrafts in Varanasi and eastern UP. The World Intellectual Property Day is an opportunity to celebrate the power of innovation and creativity and to explore how intellectual property (IP) supports the drive to build a better future,” said the GI expert Padma Shri Rajni Kant of Human Welfare Association, a Varanasi based NGO that facilitates the traditional crafts and other goods to get GI tag to protect their intellectual property rights.
He said, the women state awardees of this region include Satya Singh, Divya, Shalini, Sarita Parjapati and Malti Devi. “Varanasi and nearby districts have 23 GI-tagged goods in handloom, handicrafts, agriculture, horticulture, natural goods (Chunar Balua Patthar),” Kant told TOI, adding that very soon food, sweets, and musical instruments from Kashi will also join the GI Club of Indian IPR.
Kant said that the HWA supports the artisans not only in UP but also helps the community as a technical facilitator in 18 states and union territories for getting GI tag with the support of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), Uttarakhand Organic Commodity Board (UOCB), and various state governments. “So far, we have facilitated 150 GI applications,” he said.
The HWA was selected as winner of National Intellectual Property (IP) Award for the year 2017 in the category of ‘top individual/organisation for best facilitation of registration of GI and promotion of registered GI in India.’ The Indian Intellectual Property Office confers National IP Awards on outstanding innovators, organisations and companies in the fields of patents, designs, trademarks and geographical indications on the occasion of World IP Day every year.
This year, Kant has been invited to take part in a programme to be held at Vanijya Bhawan in New Delhi on the occasion of World Intellectual Property Day on Wednesday. Union minister of Commerce & Industry, consumer affairs, food & public distribution Piyush Goyal will be present at the function. “It is a great honour for our organization and our efforts for the promotion of GI goods,” said Kant. He, however, lamented that no common facility centre and raw material depot have been set up so far for the GI goods in Varanasi despite the region being a hub of GI products.
According to the World Intellectual Property Organisation, this year’s World Intellectual Property Day campaign is an opportunity to celebrate the amazing achievements of women inventors, creators and entrepreneurs around the world, redouble efforts to promote inclusion and diversity in all areas of work, and ensure the development of innovation ecosystems that are accessible to all genders.