The Assam Handicraft Manufacturers’ Association has in a recent memorandum sent to the Railway Minister urged to roll back the recent hike in the parcel tariff structure. The entire Northeastern States struggling with communication bottleneck and poor road condition mostly depend upon the railway as the main mode of transport to reach other metro cities in the country with their handicraft products, the memorandum said. “But because of the recent circular, sending handicraft items outside the region has now become unviable, since the regular buyers are now refusing to bear the additional burden in the form of railway freight,” it added.

The association has also moved to Union Minister in-charge of DoNER Mani Shankar Aiyar, Ministry of Textile, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise and the North Eastern Council (NEC) urging immediate steps to address their grievances.
The Crafts Councils of Tripura and Nagaland also expressed similar concern over the development. The Tripura Crafts Council (TCC) vows to move to the State’s Industry Minister soon with the plea to take up the matter with the Railway Ministry. TCC secretary Bhajan Sarma said, Tripura exports 95 per cent of its handicrafts products to various domestic and international markets and railway is the major mode of transport in this regard.

“Now, we have to forget about profit,” said Nagaland Crafts Council president N Savino. Due to the uncalled for steps on the part of the railway it has become more difficult for the North East handicraft industry, which is already facing various problems, to get exposure in the outside world, he said, adding that lakhs of poor artisans across the region would be the worst affected.
It may be mentioned here that, even in 2006 the Assam association of handicraft manufacturers, irked by the circular issued earlier by the NF Railway authorities, also urged the Railway Minister to reduce the railway tariff in view of the tough competition that the handicraft industry of the Northeast has to face with the advanced parts of the country. However, no action has so far been taken by the Railways, Sood said.

The Association has already urged the Federation of Industry and Commerce of North Eastern Region (FINER), the apex trade body of this region, to take up the matter at the appropriate level.

Interestingly, the association in its earlier memorandum also mentioned that the industry already bears the brunt of the steps taken by the NF railway authorities way back in 1996 by imposing surcharge on the “bulky items.” According to the circular, if measurement of a package exceeds 1M x 1M x 07M in outside measurement or if the goods weigh more than 100 kg then the packages will be treated as bulky and 100 per cent surcharge will be levied on the volumetric weight, the sources said.
In fact, this circular was the first blow to the industry, which had made the carrying of handicraft goods across to other parts of the country very expensive, he said.