Handicraft sales at Shilparamam take a hit over management lapses

Arts and crafts village once conceived with an idea to create an environment for the preservation of traditional crafts, Shilparamam located in Madhapur, Hyderabad, which was once a business hub, is now fading as stalls are running into losses. Owners of stalls, who have been selling their products for years at Shilparamam, are not being given the respect or value and are being treated in an uncouth way by the management.

"If we as stall owners are facing any problem the management has to give a solution in one week or one month, instead with impolite way they ask us to close the stall and search for another place to continue our business. We are here for years and where and how can we randomly startup our business as we have been completely reliant on Shilparamam since years and it's our second home and customers are like God to us," expressed Sujitha (name change)

"We are in a dilemma now, as the management is asking us to leave the store. With lots of hardship we have reached a level at Shilparamam and somehow with great difficulty we are selling the handmade crafts of Telangana which has been recognized over the years," says Sunil depressingly (name changed).

Business was doing really good at Shilparamam, but now due to the management we are facing a crisis. "The management is asking us to vacate to give place to new people who want to sell their goods. We are shedding tears everyday as we are completely dependent on these stalls to look after our families. We are in a very helpless and bad situation," Sanjay said (name changed).

Stall owners who have been working at Shilparamam for more than 20 years opined, accident or issues at the stall are been ignored and not been taken up by the management.

"One of the stalls got burnt, but it was not a shock circuit and till now no one knows what happened exactly. She had a loss of two lakh but the management did not help her out to solve the issue." shared Shakti (name change)

Customers are visiting Shilparamam, but no one is prepared to purchase anything from our stall as they are comparing private exhibitions with our stalls. Theses private exhibition are causing too much loss for us. "We pay rent to run our stall here, but the management does not even concentrate on minute issues. One of the main concern here is irregular electricity and nothing is been done about this," shared Sujitha (name change).

It's been like two to three days since we sold anything and there has been no Bohni (the first sale of the day) until now. We are artists and have our originality and we sell the products in reasonable ranges, we are even okay with bargaining to keep the customers happy. Even after doing so, customers are visiting private exhibitions and are ready to buy products for higher prices. "It is our request to the government that they have to decrease private exhibitions in the city and advertise Shilparamam as this would make our livelihood secure," pointed Samar (name change).

Ladies who are facing many problems said there is no one to understand here even after they approached the management to share their troubles; they listen, but don't do anything about it "Some time back, one of the stall owner had some small issue with the other stall owner and the management punished the lady instead of the other owner and did not allow her to enter Shilparamam, this disrespectful behaviour caused pain and agony in her and it took time for her to recover," shared Soumya (name change).

"When we face problems we try to talk to the management, but they don't give any proper response. The management doesn't inform the higher authorities about our problems. We are depressed and want the higher authorities to help us as we are completely dependent on this business," shared Shakti (name change).

From last seven years it's been the same management and by now we should be having a good rapport which is missing. We are not blaming the management; we are just requesting them to understand our situation, help us and not ignore our hardwork and skills "We request the government for a permanent solution so that we can continue working here. Shilparamam is like heaven for us, we plead the government," shared Haritha (name change).

"If this continues then our Telangana art will fade off and this is not a good sign for our state. We as artist need a lot of support from the government," expressed Sunil depressingly (name change).