Bettering The Indian GI Economy
The Central and State governments will have to ensure the policies adopted will create a fine balance between the growth of the GI revenue pie and redistribution of income generated with a large portion of the income going to the GI producers. The GI producers today have ample distribution channels open to them both in the physical and digital world. With the shift to digital platforms, the distribution margins of these gatekeepers or mandi agents must be competitive. The middlemen must not act as countervailing agents by getting into similar businesses or product lines which will erode GI producer incomes. Good margins for the GI producers will help the respective GI associations to be globally competitive and build brands to compete in the global market space, as seen in the case of their European counterparts. GI producers and distribution intermediaries are partners in grime and sweat, one bringing unique skills and techniques and the other ensuring that the GI product reaches the dining table or adorn homes. Guardrails like regular audits and consultations with the GI producers must be mandated. Hence, it is necessary to create local GI cooperative bodies or local GI associations to be nationally managed by the GI board under the auspices of the Department for the Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), the Ministry of Commerce department which should be tasked with developing this new sector.
Finally, a necessary skill for GI producers is digital literacy. This should be a priority agenda item for NGOs and stakeholders like the DPIIT. This is an opportunity for India to redefine the future of work with the use of automation, technology and artificial intelligence while simultaneously enhancing and adorning the country's talented local workforce rather than displacing it.
Many indigenous communities have benefited enormously economically from the GI recognition granted to their traditional products. For instance, post the GI tag, the price of Kadaknath Chicken, a native breed of the Dhar and Jhabua districts in Madhya Pradesh and
primarily nurtured by the Bhil tribals, has gone up significantly. Greater awareness about the exotic nature of Kadaknath has resulted in a huge spike in its demand and breeders are making respectable profits. Similarly, the GI tagged aromatic Araku Valley Coffee, originally produced by the tribal population of Andhra Pradesh, is now being exported as a premium
lifestyle and health product. It has also received global acclaim by winning the Gold Medal for the best coffee pod in the Prix Epicures OR 2018 Award in Paris, France. Considering these factors along with the availability of raw materials and labour, India can be considered
self-sufficient in making the GI economy robust.
The Indian GI economy can be a platform for India to showcase to the world a model for ethical capitalism, social entrepreneurship, de-urbanisation, and bringing women to the workforce, on the back of a robust digital system. It encompasses the concept of trusteeship, as advocated by Mahatma Gandhi and more recently, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the United Nations. It is truly Made in India.
