New Delhi, August 7, 2022 : Union Minister of Commerce and Industry; Consumer Affairs; Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri. Piyush Goyal stressed upon the need to connect weavers and artisans with a greater clientele with both domestic as well as International customers. Stating that the e-commerce intiatives should be utilized to the fullest, he said the emphasis should be on onboarding of Handloom Weavers and Handicraft artisans on GeM portal in large numbers, while simultaneously making it incumbent upon all Govt. Departments to purchase Handloom Products for all their textile needs. For this he urged the Ministries of Commerce, Industry and Textiles to join hands to facilitate the process.
Shri Goyal stressed upon the need to put the Census data of Handlooms of over 35 lakh handloom workers in public domain for transparency and validation so that the benefits of handloom schemes reach the genuine beneficiaries.
Minister of Textiles asked for organizing a large scale exhibition involving all awardees of Handlooms and Handicraft since inception of the awards to celebrate their achievement, and inspire others to emulate them. He highlighted the need for quality, consistency and need for selective use of technology to reduce drudgery without compromising the basic character of Handlooms. Addressing the gathering, he told that Prime Minsiter is the biggest Barand Ambassador of Art and Crafts made in India, and always prefers gifting Handloom and Handicraft items to dignitaries during his foreign visits.
Secretary (Textiles) Shri U.P. Singh and Development Commissioner (Handlooms) Shri Sanjay Rastogi were also present for the function.
Five Design Resource Centres at Indore, Kolkata, Nagpur, Meerut and Panipat were inaugurated. On the occasion, 82 Sant Kabir and National handloom Awards were given away. The function was joined in person by Awardees and their families, weavers from different parts of the country in person, besides dignitaries from different ministries including Ministry of Textiles The function was widely participated from different corners of the country.Handloom Clusters from across the country, Weavers’ Service Centres, Indian Institutes of Handloom Technology, offices of National Handloom Development Corporation, Handloom Exports Promotion Council, Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts and NIFT campuses.
Besides audio-visual inauguration of Design Resource Centres, an audio visual presentation was made on the weaves of India.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister of State, Smt. Darshana Vikram Jardosh hailed the sector as a sparkling example of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat and a medium of rural development and made an appeal to provide Support and encouragement of fellow citizens, which will go a long way in ensuring our handloom weavers’ livelihoods, instilling pride amongst our weaving community and ensuring sustenance of our cultural heritage. She told that the sector needed new ideas to promote the sector in novel ways and promote the business of Handloom through effective marketing.
