A personal project · Panipat Cluster & Jaipur · 2025–26
Sutradhar
सूत्रधार — "one who holds the threads" · also, narrator
Documenting the stories of Panipat's textile workers, helping them claim government entitlements they don't know exist, and teaching the digital skills they need to do both.
I
Hunar
हुनर · skill, craft, inherited art · Heritage Documentation
Recording what disappears
II
Haq
हक़ · right, entitlement, what is due · Scheme Awareness
Govt entitlements unclaimed
III
Haath
हाथ · hand, the means to reach · Digital Access
Skills to navigate & claim
"The thread does not know it is part of a pattern. But together — every thread — it becomes something that lasts."
Ramesh Chauhan · Darri Weaver · Panipat Cluster
8
Artisans Fully Documented
₹75K
~$893 in Toolkit Grants Unlocked
₹44L+
~$52K+ Insurance Coverage Activated
See Full Impact →
Detailed breakdown by pillar
How it works
Three things, one visit
Each session at a Panipat factory or artisan workshop tries to cover all three — record something, explain a scheme, teach one phone skill. Two hours, sometimes more if there's time.
Pillar I — Hunar
Heritage Documentation
Recording what modernisation erases — one artisan's story at a time
Panipat's handloom workforce has fallen by more than half in a generation. The darri patterns, the pit-loom techniques, the specific vocabulary of design decisions — all of it is disappearing with the people who carry it. No one is writing it down.
This pillar is a permanent record. Each artisan gets a full profile — a recorded interview in Hindi, photographs of the work and the worker, and a written narrative. Not a survey. An actual account of a person and their craft.
The archive covers darri weavers in the Panipat cluster, block printers in Sanganer, and durrie weavers — Haryana and Rajasthan both. Eight profiles is the target. It keeps going after that.
Tools, technique in-process, artisan at work — 20+ photos
Written Artisan Profile
500-word narrative, published on this archive
Technique Video Clip
60–90 second demonstration, narrated
Pillar II — Haq
Government Scheme Awareness
Connecting workers to entitlements they've earned but never claimed
Most weavers in the Panipat cluster have no idea that PM Vishwakarma exists, or that PMSBY gives them ₹2 lakh (~$2,381) accident cover for ₹20 (~$0.24) a year. They're eligible. They've never applied. No one told them.
Every session includes a 30-minute Hindi walkthrough of whichever schemes are most relevant for that group, plus a one-on-one eligibility check and, where possible, actual registration on the spot. Everyone leaves knowing what they qualify for, even if we can't always finish the paperwork that day.
Format per Session
Scheme Overview (30 min, group)
2–3 most relevant schemes explained in Hindi
Eligibility Check (per worker)
Quick checklist — logged in the Weaver Register
Assisted Registration
Aadhaar-based portal registration, or CSC referral card given
Most government schemes require a smartphone to register. Yet many Panipat cluster workers have phones they use only for calls. Sutradhar's sessions are practical and task-focused — each 45 minutes teaches only what is needed to complete one real outcome.
Progress is tracked per worker in the Weaver Register across visits.
Curriculum Across Visits
Visit 1 — Smartphone Basics
Contacts, WhatsApp, mobile data, camera
Visit 2 — UPI & Payments
Setting up UPI, sending/receiving money
Visit 3 — DigiLocker & Aadhaar
Creating DigiLocker, using e-documents for scheme registration
Visit 4+ — Independent Registration
Worker self-registers on pmvishwakarma.gov.in or PMSBY portal
Reference Guide
Government Schemes
Covered in Sutradhar sessions. Verified as of 2025. Confirm current eligibility at pmvishwakarma.gov.in or the nearest CSC.
Most weavers in the Panipat cluster qualify for 4–6 of these schemes simultaneously. A single artisan family could access ₹3–5 lakh in combined benefits, insurance, and loans — most of which go unclaimed every year.
Central Government
PM Vishwakarma Yojana
₹15,000 (~$179) + ₹3L (~$3,571) Loan
Toolkit grant + collateral-free loans of ₹1L and ₹2L at 5% interest. Training stipend ₹500 (~$5.95)/day. Covers weavers, tailors, basket weavers, and 18 traditional trades.
WeaversArtisansSelf-employed
How to Applypmvishwakarma.gov.in · Aadhaar + mobile · Also via nearest CSC
Central Government
PM Suraksha Bima Yojana
₹2L (~$2,381) for ₹20 (~$0.24)/year
Accident insurance of ₹2 lakh (~$2,381) for a premium of just ₹20 (~$0.24)/year, auto-deducted from bank account. One of the highest-value, lowest-cost schemes available.
All WorkersAge 18–70Bank Account
How to ApplyAny bank branch or PMJDY account · 5 minutes · Annual auto-renewal
Central Government
PM Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana
₹2L (~$2,381) Life Cover
Life insurance of ₹2 lakh (~$2,381) for ₹436 (~$5.19)/year (about ₹1.20 (~$0.01)/day). Transformative protection for weaver families where the primary earner has no employer-provided coverage.
Age 18–55Bank Account
How to ApplyAny bank · Aadhaar + savings account · Combine with PMSBY
Central Government
Atal Pension Yojana
₹1,000–5,000 (~$12–$60)/month after 60
Guaranteed monthly pension for unorganised sector workers. Government co-contributes 50% of premium for non-income-tax payers. Essential for handloom weavers with no PF.
Age 18–40Unorganised Sector
How to ApplyBank branch or PMJDY account
Haryana State Government
Mukhyamantri Parivar Samridhi Yojana
₹6,000 (~$71)/year cash
Direct cash transfer for Haryana families with annual income below ₹1.8 lakh (~$2,143). Can be directed toward PM life insurance, pension, or taken as cash. Most Panipat cluster handloom families qualify.
Haryana OnlyIncome <₹1.8L
How to Applycm-psy.haryana.gov.in · Parivar Pehchan Patra required
Haryana State Government
Parivar Pehchan Patra (PPP)
Gateway to all Haryana schemes
The Family ID is the prerequisite for all Haryana state benefits. Without PPP, workers cannot access MMPSY, Labour Welfare, or state health schemes. Complete this first.
Haryana OnlyPrerequisite
How to Applymeraparivar.haryana.gov.in · Nearest Antyodaya Kendra
Haryana State Government
Haryana Labour Welfare Fund
Education, medical & housing grants
For workers in registered factories. Benefits: education scholarships for children up to ₹8,000 (~$95)/year, medical assistance, housing loan subsidy, ₹10,000 (~$119) maternity benefit.
Factory WorkersHaryana Only
How to Applyhrylabour.gov.in · Employer must be registered
Central Government
PM Jan Dhan Yojana + RuPay
Zero-balance account + ₹2L (~$2,381) cover
Zero minimum balance savings account + RuPay debit card. Free accident insurance ₹2L (~$2,381) with active RuPay card. Foundation for all other scheme access. Many workers have accounts but don't know about the built-in insurance.
All WorkersFoundation
How to ApplyAny bank branch · Aadhaar + photo · 30 minutes
Pillar I — Hunar
The Heritage Archive
In-depth profiles of artisans from the Panipat cluster and Sanganer, Jaipur — their stories, techniques, and the lives behind the cloth.
Darri Weaving · Panipat Cluster
Shakil Ahamad
Sector 12 Weaving Colony, Panipat, Haryana
"The border is the signature. Anyone can weave the centre. Every corner is a decision — and a good weaver's corners meet perfectly."
25 years of craft
✓ PM Vishwakarma · PMSBY · PMJJBY · MMPSY
Block Printing · Sanganer, Jaipur
Jahangir Alam
Ramchandraji ka Rasta, Sanganer, Jaipur, Rajasthan
"Every dyer had his own formula for the indigo vat. My father's formula died with him. That loss is not small."
35 years of craft
✓ PM Vishwakarma · PMSBY · PMJJBY
Handloom Weaving · Panipat Cluster
Prem Chand
Rajiv Colony, Panipat, Haryana
"My father forced me into this work and I resented it for ten years before I loved it. I don't want to make that mistake with my own son."
18 years of craft
✓ PM Vishwakarma · PMSBY · PMJJBY · APY
Darri Weaving · Panipat Cluster
Shamshad Alam
Noor Mohalla, Panipat, Haryana
"After thirty years at a pit loom you don't sit straight anymore. My wife says I lean to the left permanently. The hands, though — the hands have never ached."
32 years of craft
✓ PMSBY · MMPSY · Haryana Labour Welfare
Carpet Weaving · Panipat Cluster
Md Munna Mustak
Ansari Mohalla, Panipat, Haryana
"A machine makes the same knot 10,000 times without getting bored. I make each one with a decision. The carpet knows when your hands are peaceful."
20 years of craft
✓ PM Vishwakarma · PMSBY · PMJJBY in progress
Block Printing · Sanganer, Jaipur
Tauhid Alam
Chhipa Mohalla, Sanganer, Jaipur, Rajasthan
"This block — fifteen years I have been pressing it. My hands know its weight before I pick it up. The block does not need to tell me when it is right."
28 years of craft
✓ PM Vishwakarma · PMSBY · PMJJBY
Handloom Weaving · Panipat Cluster
Tufar Ali
Sector 8 Colony, Panipat, Haryana
"When this rug leaves here, I don't know where it goes. I won't be there to explain it. The work has to speak by itself."
22 years of craft
✓ PMSBY · PMJJBY
Block Printing · Sanganer, Jaipur
Sunita Devi
Block Printers' Lane, Sanganer, Jaipur, Rajasthan
"A good block stamp is like a signature. You can always tell which hand pressed it, even fifty years later. The pressure is personal."
28 years of craft
✓ PMSBY · PMJJBY · APY
Darri Weaving · Panipat Cluster
Krishna Prasad Ganesh
Panipat, Haryana · DOB: 1 January 1969
Interview conducted. Profile coming soon.
37+ years of craft
Profile coming soon
Handloom Weaving · Panipat Cluster
Babu Ansari
Panipat, Haryana · DOB: 1 February 1985
Interview scheduled. Profile coming soon.
20+ years of craft
Profile coming soon
Weaver Register
Register a Weaver
Record details of each artisan or factory worker met during field visits. Tracks craft profile, scheme eligibility, and digital skills progress.
Connect for Global Submissions
If this site is hosted on Netlify, registrations work automatically with zero setup — go to your Netlify dashboard → Forms to see submissions. For other hosting platforms, set up an endpoint below.
★ Option A · Netlify — zero setup if hosted on Netlify
If you deployed this site on Netlify, form submissions are collected automatically — no endpoint needed.
To view submissions: log in to app.netlify.com → select your site → Forms → sutradhar-weaver-register.
To get email notifications: in Netlify → Forms → select form → Form notifications → add your email.
Option B · Formspree — for Vercel, GitHub Pages, Cloudflare & others
1. Go to formspree.io — create a free account with your email.
2. Click + New Form, name it "Sutradhar Register".
3. Copy the endpoint URL: https://formspree.io/f/abcdefgh
4. Paste it below and click Save. Submissions are emailed to you and visible in your dashboard. Free: 50/month.
Option C · Google Sheets — free, unlimited, any host
1. Create a new Google Sheet.
2. Go to Extensions → Apps Script, delete existing code, paste the code shown below.
3. Deploy → New Deployment → Web App. Execute as: Me. Access: Anyone.
4. Copy the deployment URL and paste it below.
Google Apps Script Code — copy and paste into Extensions → Apps Script
No endpoint set — registrations are saved to this browser only
Register any artisan or factory worker — in the field or remotely. If an endpoint is set above, each entry is submitted directly to Aarav and also saved to this browser as a backup.
Personal Details
Craft Profile
Scheme Eligibility & Status
Digital Skills & Documentation
Weaver Register
Data saved to your browser — persists between visits
Workers self-register on portals independently — Shakil, Prem
5
Moved from zero to basic digital capability across visits
What was unlocked — scheme by scheme
For all 8 profiled artisans enrolled in PMSBY: ₹20 (~$0.24) × 8 = ₹160 (~$1.90) in total annual premiums. ₹2,00,000 (~$2,381) × 8 = ₹16 lakh (~$19,048) in coverage. That gap — between what something costs and what it protects — is what Sutradhar is here to close.
Scheme
Workers Registered
Benefit per Worker
Total Coverage / Annual Value
PM Vishwakarma Yojana
5 workers
₹15,000 (~$179) toolkit + ₹3L (~$3,571) loan at 5%
₹75,000 (~$893) in grants + ₹15L (~$17,857) loan access
PM Suraksha Bima (PMSBY)
8 workers
₹2L (~$2,381) accident cover · ₹20 (~$0.24)/year
₹16L (~$19,048) total coverage · ₹160 (~$1.90)/yr premiums
PM Jeevan Jyoti (PMJJBY)
6 workers
₹2L (~$2,381) life cover · ₹436 (~$5.19)/year
₹12L (~$14,286) life cover activated
Atal Pension Yojana (APY)
2 workers
₹1,000–5,000 (~$12–$60)/month from age 60
Pension security for Prem Chand & Sunita Devi
MMPSY — Haryana
2 workers
₹6,000 (~$71)/year cash transfer
₹12,000 (~$143)/yr · Shakil Ahamad & Shamshad Alam
Haryana Labour Welfare Fund
1 worker
₹8,000 (~$95)/child/yr education scholarship
Shamshad Alam · children's schooling costs covered
PMJDY + RuPay Insurance
8 workers
₹2L (~$2,381) cover · existing Jan Dhan account
₹16L (~$19,048) coverage from accounts already held
8 artisans
7 schemes
—
₹75K (~$893) grants · ₹44L+ (~$52K+) total coverage
What they said
"Twenty-five years weaving and no government officer ever came to give, only to take. I registered for PM Vishwakarma the same day you told me it was real. I had already gone home and confirmed it myself."
"₹20 (~$0.24) for ₹2 lakh (~$2,381) accident cover. I have a motorcycle. I drive in Panipat traffic every day. I said that number to my wife, then to my neighbour. I am still thinking about why I didn't have this at twenty-five."
Tufar Ali · Handloom Weaver · Sector 8 Colony, Panipat
"My husband always handled the forms. Now I can do it myself. That matters more than the money, honestly."
Sunita Devi · Block Printer · Sanganer, Jaipur
About the project
Why I started this
Aarav Gupta
Founder, Sutradhar
School
Jayshree Periwal International School, Jaipur
City
Jaipur, Rajasthan
Field Sites
Panipat Cluster, Haryana & Sanganer, Jaipur
Started
September 2025
Built on three pillars
I · HUNAR · हुनर
Craft & Heritage Documentation
II · HAQ · हक़
Rights & Government Schemes
III · HAATH · हाथ
Digital Access & Literacy
Why Sutradhar
It started with a buying trip. I'd gone with someone from the trade to a weaving factory in Panipat's textile cluster — one of those sprawling places where trucks back in and buyers walk the floor with sample cards checking quality and GSM counts. I was there to look at fabric, basically.
I wasn't paying much attention to the workers at first. Then I stopped near one loom and just watched for a minute. The man weaving had hands that moved faster than I could follow. He'd been doing this for over thirty years, he said when I asked. A darri pattern I'd seen selling in Jaipur at twice what he'd earn from it.
"I asked if he knew about PM Vishwakarma. He'd never heard of it. No accident insurance either. Thirty years at a loom, and the government had schemes sitting there waiting — he just didn't know."
I kept thinking about it on the drive back. Not just the scheme gap — though that's real and fixable — but the fact that the pattern he was weaving would disappear when he retired. No archive, no record, no one had ever asked him how he learned it or what it meant to him.
That's what Sutradhar is. Not something I planned. More like something I couldn't stop thinking about until I started doing it. The three pillars — documentation, scheme awareness, digital literacy — came from realising that each gap made the others worse. No scheme registration without phone skills. No phone motivation without something concrete to register for. No point in any of it if the person's actual knowledge vanishes anyway.
I'm not sure how far this goes. But it felt wrong to see what I saw and just drive home.
The three pillars — what they mean and what they do
हुनर
Hunar · Pillar I
Skill · craft · inherited art
The word comes from Persian via Urdu. It doesn't just mean skill — it carries the sense of something learned slowly, passed down, earned. A weaver's hunar is not just his ability to thread a loom. It's the pattern vocabulary in his head, the eye that knows when a selvedge is off, the rhythm that comes from thirty years of practice that you can't put into a manual.
This pillar exists because hunar is fragile. It lives in people, not in machines or files. When a weaver retires with no one to teach and no record made, that specific knowledge — those specific patterns, that specific understanding of material and tension — is gone. Permanently. Sutradhar's documentation work is about making it last: recorded interviews in Hindi, craft photographs, written profiles that preserve not just what artisans make but how they think about making it.
Connected scheme
PM Vishwakarma Yojana — the only government scheme that formally recognises traditional craft skill as an economic identity, granting ₹15,000 (~$179) toolkit support and training stipends to artisans who register through the scheme's verification process.
हक़
Haq · Pillar II
Right · entitlement · what is due
From Arabic, through Urdu. Haq means right — but not in the legal abstract. It means what is owed to you. What you deserve. What no one can rightfully withhold. When you say yeh mera haq hai — this is my right — you are not asking. You are stating a fact about the world.
Panipat's weavers have haq to accident cover, to pension, to business loans, to life insurance. These are not favours — they are legal entitlements funded by public money, waiting to be claimed. Most go unclaimed every year because no one explained them in a language and form the workers could use. That is what this pillar fixes: group sessions in Hindi, one-on-one eligibility checks, and actual registration where possible on the same day.
Haath means hand. A weaver's hands are literal — calloused, precise, constantly moving. But haath also means capability. To have haath in something is to have a hand in it, to be able to reach it, to do something yourself. Sutradhar's third pillar is about a different kind of reach: digital.
Every government scheme Sutradhar covers requires a smartphone to register online, or at least a basic understanding of what documents to bring to the bank or CSC. Without those skills, haq stays theoretical. Haath is what makes the other two pillars actually work in practice — not as concepts, but as money in a bank account and an insurance certificate that exists.
First visit to Panipat cluster — buying trip that became something else. Went back the following week with a notebook. Interview methodology put together.
Oct 2025
First artisan profile completed — Ramesh Chauhan. Archive site built and launched.
Nov 2025
PM Vishwakarma registration for 4 artisans from the Panipat cluster. First scheme enrollments through Sutradhar.
Dec 2025
Digital literacy sessions begin — UPI setup and DigiLocker. Weaver Register launched to track progress.
