In an effort to help the second-largest workforce
sector in India, the Master Craftsmen and Artisans, facilities have been
allocated by brand Sangeeta Boochra & Silver Centrre to
allow them to work from home during this difficult time due to the coronavirus
outbreak.
Covering a total of 25,000 Artisans across India , the
company aims to provide them with hope and a bright future.
This innovative programme was started by the brand
& iconic company Sangeeta Boochra and Silver Centrre in 1998. Till today,
it is the only initiative of its kind taken up by any jewellery company in India .
Sangeeta Boochra is a Veteran
Designer of the nation and a Rajasthani Business Magnate.
She produces more than 10,000 designs of precious metal jewellery studded with
precious, semi-precious gemstones, handmade paintings and pearls every year.
Silver Centrre was founded by ‘The Silver
King of India’, Seth Kistoor Chand Boochra in 1897 as a Bullion
Trading Company. It was only in 1960 when his visionary son Seth Lalit Kumar
Boochra saw an opportunity and converted it into a Jewellery Manufacturing
Company.
The brand & company has 45 stores, 3 factories
and design studios.
Mrs. Neeta Boochra – Director, Mrs. Sangeeta
Boochra – Director and Designer, Mr. Abhineet Boochra – Director, Mrs. Divya
Boochra – Director & Creative Head and Mr. Riteek Boochra – Chief
Brand Officer.
The brand has been loved by many royal families of
the world, industrialists, politicians and celebrities. From Her Highness
Majesty The Queen Elizabeth II of England, Maharani Gayatri Devi of Jaipur,
Royal Family of Patiala, Nizam of Hyderabad, Royal Family of Rajkot, Royal
Family of Kota, Wadiyar Dynasty of Mysore, Royal Family of Baroda - the Gaekwad
Dynasty, John F. Kennedy, President of United States to Hollywood
celebrities Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Sofia Vergara, Monica Bellucci, Salma
Hayek, Audrey Hepburn and Bollywood celebrities like Deepika Padukone,
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Vidya Balan and Alia Bhatt, all
have adorned the brands collections.
It would be impossible to ARGUE that “Sangeeta Boochra“ is the most famous designer of
Jewellery. Her strength is her ability to read the times and the moods that
changed them - and usually do so before anyone else did.
Director of the brand Abhineet Boochra states that
during this difficult time due to Covid-19, the brand is helping the second
most important sector, the Artisans and Master Craftsmen of India, by providing
them work in their villages through the companies long-standing network of 400
clusters across all states and union territories in the country. This way,
they are helping 25,000 artisans on the national level in the jewellery
industry. In 1998, Sangeeta Boochra along with her father-in-law Seth
Lalit Kumar Boochra jointly started a programme known as the ‘Community
Development Programme’ which turned out to be a boon for
these Artisans and Master Craftsmen during this pandemic.
The company has made sure that no Artisan under
their programme would sleep hungry or face any loss of work. We have even
deployed additional teams to take care of this situation adhering to all
government guidelines.
The brand manufactures beautiful handcrafted
jewellery which is inspired by the traditions and culture of India , hence these Artisans are the real
strength of India
and of the company as they are the ones who make it successful.
Below are the details of our Community Development
Programme which we have been continuously working on since 1998.
1.Unskilled Rural Poor are made jewellery artisans through community
mobilization and skill training.
2.Training and livelihood sources are at their doorstep, fair wages, no
exploitation, no child labour, no pollution and no harm to the society.
3.Social Development Support: Artisans and their communities are
facilitated for better health, life skill education, sanitation and other
social imperatives. Financing the marriage of at least 1 daughter of an Artisan.
4.Connecting artisans to world markets by taking them to all shows and
exporting their products to different countries of the world.
5.We partner with Government, Civil Societies, NGO’s etc.
6.Employing Artisans who live in the most remote parts of India with
little to no access to transport. The greatest challenge in their lives is
commuting to work and back, often resulting in families that live far apart.
One of the key differentiators of our model is an artisan’s ability to not only
work from home, but have business travel to them.
7.A grassroots network that requires specialized logistical support is set
up through which raw materials are dropped off at an artisan’s home from where
they work on the product. To ensure customers receive high-quality products,
quality supervisors inspect the production to help ensure a consistent output
while tracking progress. These supervisors also ensure artisan service to
ensure they are not interrupted by the shortage of raw bullion. When completed,
the product is picked up at the Artisans’ doorstep and sent to the next stage
of the jewellery making progress.
8.These networks stretch across 400 villages in India through an intense grassroots
network to connect 25,000 artisans.
9.Sangeeta Boochra/Silver Centrre’s Artisans’ thus have the ability to
work from home.
10.More women can
work towards financial independence as they don’t have to navigate commute,
especially in remote villages.
11.Artisans decide
their own work hours - being able to work around their family’s schedules.
12. Artisans will
lose no workdays in receiving and transporting material.
13.Traditional
Indian communities do not give women the opportunity to work outside the home
and thus Sangeeta Boochra/Silver Centrre’s model provides an easy solution to
this.
Jaipur, Rajasthan ,
India