Ergonomic study to reduce working schedule stress of women in handicraft industry

Craft sector is the second largest employment sector in India. There are 23 million crafts people in India. Many agricultural and pastoral communities depend on their craft skills as a secondary source of income. The inherent skills in embroidery, weaving, basketry etc. are means to social and economic independence. Chikan embroidery is the biggest artisan’s cluster of India. Apart from the artisans, thousands of people from allied activities like cutting, stitching, hand block, textile printing, jaali work, and washermen are involved in the process of chikan craft. The total number of artisans providing support services to chikan embroidery is about 50,000. The artisans of chikan embroidery are scattered in the villages of Lucknow district and other nearby district in a radius of about 125 Km. The districts covered are Unnao, Barabanki, Lakhimpur, Hardoi and Sitapur etc. Some other districts where we can find few artisans of chikankari are Raibareilly, Shahjahapur, Sultanpurn and Faizabad. Both urban and rural block of the area are largely dependent on the activities associated with chikan crafts.