India is a vast country with 18 major and 1600 minor languages and dialects, six major ethnic groups, 52 major tribes, 6400 castes and subcastes, and approximately 1.2 billion population where 70 percent of the population live in the rural part of India (Handmade in India, 2005). The Craft & cottage industries are the most significant non-agricultural decentralized industry in the Indian economy. The people working in this sector are 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 sections. (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 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. Traditional craft skills have historically been a natural means of earning a 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 new contests. The younger generation from traditional craft producing communities is not interested in engaging with this sector because of an uncertain future. The dying craft skills and unemployment among youth is widespread. They migrate towards menial jobs adding to low self-esteem, exploitation, dire working conditions, and further marginalization in society. It is a critical need of the 20th century to create an enabling ecosystem for this sector so that its producers are valued and to be respected for their skills so that they become active stakeholders and beneficiaries of the extensive wealth creation process. 

Design as a modern profession in Developing countries like India envisioned as a crucial tool after independence for the country's modernization, especially for the craft and cottage industries (S Balram 2009).In recent times, India's political will is evident to accept design as a critical 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 treat design as a strategic tool for industrial competitiveness(Sulfikar Amir 2004). The design fraternity in the 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 viewing design from a broad perspective and constructing 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. It possesses enormous potential for growth and wealth creation as also employment generation and stemming the flood of rural-urban migration. However, currently different aspects of the craft sector and its value chain, i.e., design development,training, 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, legal, cultural, economic, and environmental policies on the craft sector felt oblique. The policy environment does not address the counties of this sector in an enabling manner. A number of international funding organizations have instituted schemes and programs influencing the sector. However, there is no convergence among them in terms of implementation frameworks within India's policy setups.(Switch Asia 2016) This piecemeal approach and lack of concerted drive to develop the sector severely retards its growth and prevents the effective and transparent functioning of its elements, precluding it from becoming a strong player in the national and international markets. There is a need for holistic design research to understand the gaps and evolve an integrated, systematic approach to overcome the challenges currently preventing its potential from being realized. 

An indicative list of inviting proposals 

for Design Research / Graduation project/training /voluntary support in this domain knowledge for the year 2020 to 2021 : 

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 the craft sector in India?

8. What are the different ways to increase craftsman incomes by improving their productivity(mainly 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 relive the languishing crafts or GI registered crafts.