India:Fake Pashmina shawls hit traditional artisans

 

With the global economic crisis, taking its toll on each and every export sector, the vulnerable handicrafts industry has not been left behind in being deeply affected. Most of the artisans hail from rural and poor backgrounds which makes it more difficult for them to survive through this Tsunami like crisis.

The famous Pashmina shawl is also facing problems, which are not of its own making nor related to the economic crisis. Fake Pashmina shawls are circulating in the state of Jammu and Kashmir to the consternation of the traditional Pashmina shawl producers. The customer is also not able to discern between a genuine and a fake.

Since these fake Pashmina shawls are sold at cheap rates, people flock to buy them, unaware that they are being sold a counterfeit shawl. Sales to the extent of nearly 50 percent have been affected since these bogus shawls started to find their way in to the Kashmiri markets.

The Pashmina shawl producers are expecting the government to intervene in the matter, before it is too late and most of the traditional weavers move out of the business. The government on its part had introduced a law, making it mandatory for handicraft products to carry a logo to differentiate it from the fake ones, but it was never implemented properly.