Naqvi calls 34th Hunar Haat in Surat as ‘Kumbh of Kaushal Kuber’

Union Minister of Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi trying a slingshot during his visit to Hunar Haat at Vanita Vishram Parisar in Surat on Saturday. (UNI)
Union Minister of Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi trying a slingshot during his visit to Hunar Haat at Vanita Vishram Parisar in Surat on Saturday. (UNI)

SURAT, Dec 11:
Union Minister for Minority Affairs and Deputy Leader of Rajya Sabha, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Saturday said the Hunar Haat, which has become the ‘Kumbh of Kaushal Kuber,’ has ensured economic empowerment of indigenous artisans and craftsmen.
Talking to reporters here, he said more than seven lakh artisans, craftsmen and people associated with them have been provided employment opportunities through Hunar Haat in the last about six years.
The Union Minister told reporters here that rare handmade indigenous products, traditional dishes, various cultural and musical programmes of renowned artists, traditional circus and Vishwakarma Vatika were major attractions of this 10-day event, being organised at Vanita Vishram, Surat from December 11 to 20, and will be inaugurated by Acharya Devvrat, Governor of Gujarat on Sunday.
Hunar Haat has proved a “powerful perfect platform” of “Development with Dignity” of indigenous artisans and craftsmen by ensuring “potential and prosperity” for their arts and craftsmanship, said Naqvi.
He said the Central Government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is working effectively to protect and promote the country’s ancestral legacy of arts and crafts in the current global competition. “Our Government has taken several initiatives so that the younger generation of artisans and craftsmen is also remain connected to their legacy and they also get financial and self-employment opportunities through traditional arts and crafts,” added the Minister in a statement. Naqvi said Hunar Haat’s virtual and online platform http://hunarhaat.org and GeM portal, better marketing linkages, new designs, better packaging, training and credit linkages, have opened enormous economic opportunities for artisans and craftsmen.
The Minister said that a meeting of the Ministry’s Parliamentary Consultative Committee and a two-day meeting of Social Welfare and Minority Welfare Ministers, Secretaries and senior officials of State and UT Governments will be held on January, 20 and 21, 2022 in the on-going “Kutch Rann Utsav” in Gujarat.
Issues regarding socio-economic-educational empowerment and employment oriented skill development will be discussed, he added. The statement said exquisite and elegant indigenous handmade products from more than 30 States and Union Territories (UTs), including Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Delhi, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Manipur, Goa, Puducherry, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Chandigarh and Haryana are available in this Hunar Haat, where more than 600 artisans and craftsmen are participating with about 300 stalls. Traditional dishes from different regions of the country are also available here, he added. Naqvi said people will also enjoy cultural and musical programmes of Pankaj Udhas, Suresh Vadekar, Sudesh Bhosle, display of famous serial “Mahabharat” by renowned actor Puneet Issar, Gufi Paintal and others, Antakshari by renowned actor Annu Kapoor and other artists, various cultural-musical programmes of renowned artists such as Amit Kumar, Bhupinder Singh Bhuppi, Vipin Aneja, Bhumi Trivedi, Priya Mallik and others.
The next Hunar Haat will be organised at JLN Stadium, New Delhi from December 22 to January 2, 2022. Hunar Haats will also be organised in Mysuru, Guwahati, Pune, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Patna, Puducherry, Mumbai, Jammu, Chennai, Chandigarh, Agra, Prayagraj, Goa, Jaipur, Bengaluru, Kota, Sikkim, Srinagar, Leh, Shillong, Ranchi, Agartala and other places in the coming days, said the statement. Union Minister of State for Rail and Textiles Darshana Jardosh; MPs- CR Patil and Prabhubhai Vasava; Gujarat Road and Building, Tourism Minister Purneshbhai Modi; Minister of State for Home and Sports, Youth Services and Culture Minister (Independent Charge) Harsh Sanghavi; Agriculture and Energy Minister Mukeshbhai Patel; Urban Development Minister Vinodbhai Mordiya and MLAs- VD Zalavadiya, Arvindbhai Rana, Kantibhai Balar, Kishorbhai Kanani, Sangitaben Patil, Vivekbhai Patel, Ganpatsinhbhai Vasava, Ishwarbhai Parmar, Mohanbhai Dhodia, Pravinbhai Ghoghari and Zankhanaben H Patel; Surat Mayor Hemali Boghawala; Ex-Surat Mayor Niranjanbhai Jajmera and other dignitaries will grace the occasion as Chief Guests and Guests of Honour, it added.
(UNI)