Sanganeri block hand printing get G.I

500 year old Sanganeri hand block printed textiles, renowned for delicate floral motifs, will now be protected as a geographical indication under Geographical Indication of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999. This means that no printed textiles made outside the identified geographical area of Sanganer town in Rajasthan can be legally sold under the name of Sanganeri Hand Block Prints. Geographical Indication Registry, Chennai based competent authority, has recently issued the GI certificate for Sanganeri Hand Block Prints. The GI certificate would help counter threats from hand block and screen printed textiles produced in other regions and countries, but sold in India under the tag of Sanganeri print. With suitable marketing initiatives, GIs can also be commercially leveraged for enhancing incomes of about fifteen hundred artisan families, while providing assurance of product quality to consumers.

The GI certificate has not only recognised uniqueness and distinct identity of Sanganeri hand block prints in dress material, but also of related products such as home furnishing manufactured in the traditional manner by the community of Chhipas. The application seeking GI registration of these products was filed in December 2008. Subsequently the GI Registry undertook a rigorous process of scrutiny to ascertain the unique properties and reputation of Sanganeri hand block printed textiles and their link with the area of production in Rajasthan.

The art of hand-block printing and design was developed to a high level of sophistication in Sanganer, and this small sixteenth-century village blossomed into one of India’s busiest artisan centers. Traditionally, the genius of the artisans and their print designs lay in their understanding of patterns, fabric surfaces and the use of space. The traditional Jaipur buti, usually a floral or animal motif, was carved on to a small square wooden block. The carved block was pressed on to a piece of padded fabric dipped into a vegetable dye and the motif was then printed on to the cloth at carefully measured intervals. The same process was repeated with different blocks and colours, resulting in beautiful geometric patterns of astonishing regularity. well-proportioned lyrical motifs. The traditional process of Sanganeri hand block printing has changed only marginally over the centuries.

DFID-supported UNCTAD’s India project through its partners – Indian Merchants’ Chamber Mumbai, Rajasthan Chamber of Commerce & Industry (RCCI) and Rural Non-Farm Development Agency (RUDA) of Government of Rajasthan - worked closely with the artisan community in Sanganer for seeking the GI certificate. This was done through awareness building campaigns, community mobilization and technical assistance for preparing the GI application. This is the seventh product which has received GI certificate as a result of UNCTAD project’s interventions. Similar initiatives under the project have helped weavers and artisans to receive GI certificates for Pipli Applique work of Orissa; Lucknow Chikan Craft; Uppada Jamdani Sarees of Andhra Pradesh; Cannanore Home furnishing; Banarasi Sarees and Brocades; and Balaramapuram Sarees and Fabrics.

Geographical indication (GI) is an Intellectual Property Right (IPR) which identifies a good as originating in a certain region where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of the product is essentially attributable to its geographical origin. Geographical indications are different from other intellectual property like copyrights and trademarks. While copyrights and trademarks are monopoly private intellectual property rights, GIs are publicly owned by the artisans/ producers of the concerned product. Producers of similar products in other geographical regions are excluded from using the GI tag. The protection accorded through GIs seeks to prevent illegitimate entities from free riding on the reputation of the protected product.

Most producers and artisans of traditional and unique products in India lack the resources for seeking GI registration. Left to themselves, the artisans and farmers would not be able to take advantage of legal protection under. UNCTAD’s India project is implementing a comprehensive initiative aimed at assisting resource poor artisans, weavers and farmers to seek GI registration of their unique products.

Minister for Industries Shri Rajendra Pareek, expressing happiness, said that Geographical Indication Registry, Chennai has recognized the uniqueness and historicity of Sanganeri hand block printed textiles.


Mr. Kunj Bihari Udaiwal, President- Calico Printers Co- Operative Society said that the GI Protection to Sanganeri hand block print will benefit almost 1500 artisan families of Sanganer.


Brij ballabh udaiwal ( SHILPI )
( National Award 91 )
Mobile:- +919950473611
Brij_ballabh@yahoo.co.uk