In a country like India, we need a million artisan enterprises not a million dollar brand

The craft sector aligns itself with 12 of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals

What we do?

Started in 2019, Kaarigar Clinic is India’s first rural business venture that enables artisans to become entrepreneurs for dignified work and living.

Artisans are turning into industrial labourers due to growing rural unemployment and urbanisation. We are developing a promising ecosystem for craftspeople to return to their heritage. Through financial assistance, market linkages, digital upskilling, and business training, we make creative practitioners self-reliant. Building on Gandhian values of a local system of production and distribution for strengthening the village economy, we work with the most vulnerable artisans in rural India.

Why was Kaarigar Clinic Founded?

Nilesh and Noopur, the founders, worked for a long time in the biggest NGOs and corporations in the craft sector. Having watched the systems so closely, they realised that despite achieving scale, no model is able to uplift the lives of the artisans on whose backs these organisations stand. Artisans continue to remain workers, living a similar lifestyle in their villages.

They began research with over 5,000 artisans to understand the needs of craftspeople. Over 90% of artisans wanted identity, recognition, and value over money. The study of the ancient face-to-face market culture of India paved the way for a solution. Kaarigar Clinic found entrepreneurship to be a model to enable artisans to become self-reliant. While several showed interest in becoming entrepreneurs, the lack of education, resources, and skills did not allow them to pursue it. The problems remain common, so the founders institutionalised their engagement with the artisans as a need-based mentorship model. Over the years, Kaarigar Clinic has emerged as an ecosystem enabler in the creative economy.

Defining our purpose

Vision

To Empower Artisans to become Entrepreneurs by giving them identity, value and recognition.

Mission

Create a strong and sustainable business eco-system for kaarigars who are keen to develop their own business, but unable to do so due to lack of education, resources and business skills.

Goal

By 2028, Develop 1000 kaarigar entrepreneurs to create resilience livelihood for 1 million Artisans.

People and Partners

Kaarigar Clinic works with individuals passionate about revolutionising the craft sector and committed to bringing about change. We are a growing organisation with full-time employees, part-time consultants, and volunteers. Collaboration, transparency, and trust are our core values that guide us in building this organisation.