India is a vast country with 18 major and 1600 minor languages and dialects, 6 major ethnic groups, 52 major tribes, 6400 castes and subcastes approximately 1.2 billion population where 70 percent of the population is living in rural India (Handmade in India, 2005). The Craft & cottage industries is a most significant non agricultural decentralized/unorganized sector of the Indian economy belongs to this group of people who all are not only poor, they also suffer a high level of social exclusion, low human development index, and social fragmentation in terms of deprivation of SCs, STs, minorities & low economic section. (switch Asia, Europian Commission Report 2018). Estimated 23 million craftsmen are engaged in 360 craft clusters in India (Handmade in India, 2005). However, the handicraft sector of India is $ 3,43,41,19,738 (USD) industry contributing $ 70,76,60,00,00,00 (USD) to Indian export earning annually. According to the 12th yr plan export is projected to increase 18% annually and contribute 10% employment opportunity. Despite its impressive performance, India’s economy is not growing quickly enough to provide enough new jobs for its rapidly expanding population. The traditional craft skills have historically been a regular means of earning livelihood in rural India,At present, they suffer from declining skills, lack of markets, devaluation of handmade crafted products and lack of sustainable livelihood opportunities in modern contest. The younger generation from traditional craft producing communities is not interested in engaging with this sector because of an uncertain future. This leads to dying craft skills, unemployment among youth and their engagement in menial jobs adding to low self-esteem,exploitation, dire working conditions, and further marginalization.It is a critical need of the hour to create an enabling ecosystem for the craft sector so that its producers are valued and to be respected for their skills so that they become active stakeholders and beneficiaries, of the large wealth creation process.

Design as a modern profession in Developing countries like India was envisioned as a crucial tool after independence for modernization of the country especially for the craft and cottage industries (S Balram 2009).In recent times the political will is evident by the government of India to accept design as a key element of the country's prosperity(Ashok Chatterjee 2005). The design-driven Councils in India like “India Design Council”, “Craft council of India” are working in the above sectors with an agenda for development.From the design-driven activities,one can squeeze out similarity among the steps taken are oriented toward the economic interest characterize the design strategy. The developing countries in the world treats design as a strategic tool for industrial competitiveness(Sulfikar Amir 2004). The design fraternity world belief “Design can assert political, cultural, economic and environmental Factor, thus can produce far-reaching implications by understanding the complex interrelationship between them. The design by society framework enables to view design in a broad perspective and to construct a new direction of coping with problems with the 3rd world society. (Edward woodhouse and Jason)

India's Craft sector occupies a viable socio economic space within the country's development framework and possesses an enormous potential for growth and wealth creation as also employment generation and stemming the flood of rural urban migration.How ever currently different aspects of the craft sector and its value chain i.e training, design development ,Production management,marketing,quality control,fiscal and taxation regimes ,intellectual property ,Artisan welfare,occupational safety are governed by the diverse ministries and government agencies . The impact of the country's social economic legal,cultural and environmental policies on the craft sector is felt obliquely.The policy environment does not address the counties of this sector in an enabling manner .Various international funding organisations have instituted schemes and programmes influencing the sector.But there is no convergence among them in terms of implementation frameworks within the india's policy setups.This piecemeal approach and lack of concerted drive to develop the sector severely retards it growth and prevents the dynamic and transparent functioning of its elements ,precluding it from becoming a strong player in the national and international markets.There is a need of holistic design research to understand the gaps owing from fragmentary nature of this sector and to evolve an integrated systematic approach to overcome the challenges that are currently preventing its potential from being realized.

Indicative list of proposals for research / Development :

1. Exploring opportunity of Sustainable Development Goals indicator through Design research proposal for craft sector.
2. What are new ecosystems for craft? How can traditional skills, contemporary design and enterprise come together to create new systems?
3. How can craft be a route to women’s empowerment and leadership?
4. How can craft address global environmental challenges?
5. How can craft tourism ensure craft is widely appreciated?
6. What possibilities does digital technology bring to craft?
7. What are the different occupational health issues are the hindrance to craft sector in india.
8. What are different ways to increase craftsman incomes by improving their productivity(particularly women).
9. Exploring different methods and means to preserve the past of a craft for the future.
10. What are the possibilities of craft knowledge being appreciated in mainstream school education.
11. How can we Enrichment the knowledge of traditional artisan community all over the world in various sector
12. How we can re -live the languishing crafts or GI registered crafts.