[Assam] IIE students create jewellery on request (The Telegraph, 18.12.2008)

[Buljit Buragohain]

IIE students create jewellery on request
- Budding designers cater to individual taste as part of efforts at self-sufficiency on course completion 
 
A STAFF REPORTER
 
Dec. 17: The city has a new destination for jewellery lovers.
The students of the jewellery designing and manufacturing centre at the Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE) have started reaching out to customers to sell their creations. 
“We have started accepting orders from outside and the response has been good till now,” said W. Ranjit Singh, faculty member at IIE, who is also co-ordinating the project. 
The process is simple. “The individual has to come to the centre, give the design he or she would like to have or select it from the catalogue we already have. They have to make an advance payment,” Singh said. 
 
Singh, however, cautioned that orders would not be accepted at random.
“We will just not book the order as it is. We will first judge whether the students can really deliver on the order and then go ahead. Quality is our watchword and we would always strive for it... there can be no compromise on that, “ Singh said. 
 
The fact that students are getting orders is also good for the centre, as it has to be self-sustaining, he said. 
“The centre now runs on the income generated from the orders and some money which is charged from the students for the training,” he said, adding that the ultimate aim is to help the students set up their own enterprises. 
 
He said the charges were less than the market price but the work executed was in no way inferior to the prevailing standard in the market.
“At the same time, though, we keep enough margins to keep the centre running,” Singh said. 
 
Two students of the centre have started making jewellery under their own brand, titled Jewel Art. Debojyoti Baruah, who has done a course on gemstone cutting and polishing and also on jewellery designing, is happy at being able to create jewellery under his own brand. 
 
Asha Pathak, another student, is his partner. “The centre has been of great help as we could use the machinery for executing the orders,” Baruah said. 
Baruah, a postgraduate, specialises in traditional jewellery which, he feels, has a great market. “The quality has to be of high standard to compete globally,” he said. 
The institute, at present, has a jewellery designing and manufacturing centre in addition to the already existing gemstone processing centre. 
“The institute’s endeavour is to promote the gems and jewellery business in the region,” a senior official said. 
 
The centre has a tie-up with the Centre for Development of Gems and Jewellery, Jaipur, to provide technical expertise and machinery. 
The official said the region also has a wide array of designs, which could be developed considering the market requirement. 
 
“Jewellery designing is being given a thrust based on the demand experienced by this sector,” the official said, adding that a complete package was given to the students to help them set up their own enterprises. 


(The Telegraph, 18.12.2008)


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