The govt's recent decision to impose a six-month ban on the import of toys from China creates a small window of opportunity to introspect. The Indian toy industry has never been in a state of good health, but the past two decades have been particularly bad. What little drive there was to invent and innovate got washed away by the flood of Chinese toys. They came in millions. They were colourful and diverse, loud and crude, but their greatest attraction was their low price.
The reason for the sudden decision to ban them is not known, but some guesses are being made. Complaints against the toxic plastics used in Chinese toys have been around for some time now. Powerful western toy companies which outsource their manufacturing requirements to China have also been critical. Toy giant MatteI withdrew some 21 million toys made in China because they carried high levels of lead paint. Still, it is hard to imagine that the ban is really a response to toxicity. Many toys made in India are also dangerous, and there is hardly any reliable mechanism to stop them from reaching babies.
Perhaps there is an economic rationale. Since late 1990s, in metropolitan and smalltown shops, the presence of Chinese toys has grown to overwhelming proportions. Was the heavy import hurting Indian manufacturers? Maybe, but it is hard to say which ones, for the industry is highly fragmented and largely disorganised. Toy parts form a considerable proportion of the imports, and they too will now face the ban, leading to some immediate distress among low-grade assembly units. If the goal is to encourage indigenous production, half a year is hardly long enough for an unimaginative and mostly primitive industry to develop fresh energy and drive.
Arvind Gupta and Sudarshan Khanna are India's pioneers in toy research and design. Arvind Gupta has devoted the past few decades to devising and promoting inexpensive toys that teachers can make themselves, using locally-available material. His individual initiative in this sphere has had greater impact than that of many institutions put together. Sudarshan Khanna teaches at the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, where he has set up a toy centre co train students to conceptualise innovative and safe toys. In his own research, Khanna has focussed on the importance of folk toys as a source of inspiration and ideas.
His writing reminds us how big a cost India has paid by neglecting its cottage industry of toys, an industry that needs to be studied as much for its aesthetics as for its imaginative use of local resources like paper, bamboo and cloth. Some students trained at Khanna's toy centre have introduced new ideas in toy manufacturing, but this contribution of NID is too small to make a dent in the industry, especially when it is transforming itself into a trading network dependant on China.
The reason for the sudden decision to ban them is not known, but some guesses are being made. Complaints against the toxic plastics used in Chinese toys have been around for some time now. Powerful western toy companies which outsource their manufacturing requirements to China have also been critical. Toy giant MatteI withdrew some 21 million toys made in China because they carried high levels of lead paint. Still, it is hard to imagine that the ban is really a response to toxicity. Many toys made in India are also dangerous, and there is hardly any reliable mechanism to stop them from reaching babies.
Perhaps there is an economic rationale. Since late 1990s, in metropolitan and smalltown shops, the presence of Chinese toys has grown to overwhelming proportions. Was the heavy import hurting Indian manufacturers? Maybe, but it is hard to say which ones, for the industry is highly fragmented and largely disorganised. Toy parts form a considerable proportion of the imports, and they too will now face the ban, leading to some immediate distress among low-grade assembly units. If the goal is to encourage indigenous production, half a year is hardly long enough for an unimaginative and mostly primitive industry to develop fresh energy and drive.
Arvind Gupta and Sudarshan Khanna are India's pioneers in toy research and design. Arvind Gupta has devoted the past few decades to devising and promoting inexpensive toys that teachers can make themselves, using locally-available material. His individual initiative in this sphere has had greater impact than that of many institutions put together. Sudarshan Khanna teaches at the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, where he has set up a toy centre co train students to conceptualise innovative and safe toys. In his own research, Khanna has focussed on the importance of folk toys as a source of inspiration and ideas.
His writing reminds us how big a cost India has paid by neglecting its cottage industry of toys, an industry that needs to be studied as much for its aesthetics as for its imaginative use of local resources like paper, bamboo and cloth. Some students trained at Khanna's toy centre have introduced new ideas in toy manufacturing, but this contribution of NID is too small to make a dent in the industry, especially when it is transforming itself into a trading network dependant on China.
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