The All India Handicrafts Board (AIHB), was an organisation in India established in 1952, which aimed to advise the
Ministry of Textiles
The Ministry of Textiles is an Indian government national agency responsible for the formulation of policy, planning, development, export promotion and regulation of the textile industry in India. This includes all natural, artificial, and ce ...
on development programmes for
handicrafts
A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...
. It's early key figures included
Pupul Jayakar
Pupul Jayakar (née Mehta; 11 September 1915 – 29 March 1997) was an Indian cultural activist and writer, best known for her work on the revival of traditional and village arts, handlooms, and handicrafts in post-independence India. Accor ...
,
Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay
Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay (3 April 1903 – 29 October 1988) was an Indian social reformer and freedom activist. She was most remembered for her contribution to the Indian independence movement; for being the driving force behind the renaissance ...
,
Lakshmi Chand Jain
Lakshmi Chand Jain (1925–2010) was a political activist and writer. Later, he served at various times as a member of the Planning Commission, as Indian High commissioner to South Africa, as a member of the World Commission on Dams (WCD) an ...
and
Fori Nehru
Shobha Nehru, commonly known as Fori Nehru and Auntie Fori (born Magdolna Friedmann; 5 December 1908 – 25 April 2017) was a Hungarian-born Indian social worker and the wife of the Indian civil servant Braj Kumar Nehru of the Nehru family.
In ...
. It was abolished by the Government of India in 2020 during the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.
Origins
In 1950
Pupul Jayakar
Pupul Jayakar (née Mehta; 11 September 1915 – 29 March 1997) was an Indian cultural activist and writer, best known for her work on the revival of traditional and village arts, handlooms, and handicrafts in post-independence India. Accor ...
was invited by
Jawaharlal Nehru
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat—
*
*
*
* and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...
to study the handloom sector of the economy.
The AIHB was established in 1952.
Its first chair was
Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay
Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay (3 April 1903 – 29 October 1988) was an Indian social reformer and freedom activist. She was most remembered for her contribution to the Indian independence movement; for being the driving force behind the renaissance ...
.
Other early key figures included
Lakshmi Chand Jain
Lakshmi Chand Jain (1925–2010) was a political activist and writer. Later, he served at various times as a member of the Planning Commission, as Indian High commissioner to South Africa, as a member of the World Commission on Dams (WCD) an ...
,
Kitty Shiva Rao
Kitty Shiva Rao (born 1903 – died after 1974), was a Montessori teacher and theosophist from Austria who, by India's independence, had led a committee of women to draft an ''Indian Women's Charter of Rights and Duties'' for the new constituti ...
and
Fori Nehru
Shobha Nehru, commonly known as Fori Nehru and Auntie Fori (born Magdolna Friedmann; 5 December 1908 – 25 April 2017) was a Hungarian-born Indian social worker and the wife of the Indian civil servant Braj Kumar Nehru of the Nehru family.
In ...
.
Purpose
The AIHB aimed to advise the Ministry of Textiles
The Ministry of Textiles is an Indian government national agency responsible for the formulation of policy, planning, development, export promotion and regulation of the textile industry in India. This includes all natural, artificial, and ce ...
on development programmes for handicrafts, and was an umbrella organisation, covering marketing venues across India, including Central Cottage Industries Emporium.
Disestablishment
The AIHB was abolished by the Government of India in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.
References
Further reading
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Organizations established in 1952
Indian handicrafts
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