Artisans

The Santals

The Santhals live in the plains and valleys of Jarkhand and in some parts of West Bengal and Orissa. Their language is Santali. Rich in culture, they are very good in hospitality. About 10 million Santhals are living in India at present.

The Mahali People

Mahali is a community of people among the santals and they are totally dependant on bamboo for their livelihood, like basketry, mat making and other utility items. They are one of the most backward communities of India in social and economical terms. There are approximately 50 thousand Mahalis are there in a district. We trained more than 600 artisans and handhold them through production process, who are now our active producer members.

Stone Quarry Workers:

Stone is available plenty in this region. It was mainly used for less value construction products. Quarrying and crushing of stone was done actively and involves thousands of marginalized people as workers. They work in the most unsafe and hazardous situations and fall ill health within a short term of their life.

ESAF supported a few people who dared to enterprise in the stone crafting sector and thus evolved a range of hand crafted stone products.