VARANASI : Prime Minister Narendra Modi today favoured “technological upgradation” and “human resource development” in the textile sector so that the youth take to it as a vocation “not out of any compulsion, but with pride”.
Pitching for modernisation, he asked the weavers in the district known for its textiles to utilise the growing e-commerce market to reach out to global consumers.
“E-business is increasing. There are opportunities in the global market,” Modi, who is on his first visit to his Lok Sabha constituency after assuming power, said after laying the foundation stone of a trade facilitation centre for weavers here.
“In terms of the number of people who earn their living out of it in the country, textile comes second only to agriculture. It is also a unique productive activity wherein the schism between employer and employee does not exist.
“Those who invest their capital and those who work with their hands, function together like a family”, he said at Lalpur, a village situated on the outskirts of the city.
The Prime Minister was addressing a function where he laid down the foundation stone for a Trade Facilitation Centre and Crafts Museum, besides inaugurating a Power Loom Service Centre.
The projects are being developed by the Union Ministry for Textiles at a total cost of Rs 147 crore, out of which Rs 50 crore have already been sanctioned for the initial stage.
The Prime Minister also announced that “16 district cooperative banks in eastern UP, which were recently shut down after having become financially unmanageable, would be revived through a Central assistance of Rs 2,375 crore.
“We need to revive these banks while keeping petty politics at bay. After all, these institutions are run through participation of people of all political affiliations,” he said.
In his nearly 30-minute-long speech, the Prime Minister rued that projects, which were announced in the budget had to come up “quite far away from the city for want of land”.
“We had sought land from the Uttar Pradesh government closer to the city, but that did not materialise.Hence we had to contend with this place”, he said.
Modi, however, said there would be all out efforts to ensure that the Trade Facilitation Centre and the Crafts Museum “become a centre of attraction for every person visiting Varanasi from any part of the country or the world”.
Striking a chord with locals, he said, “The city has a proud heritage which has no parallel. I am sure that even the poorest woman in the country must have dreamt of presenting her daughter with a Banarasi sari as a wedding gift.
“The Centre and the Museum would exist as a place where our weavers, our craftsmen come together and put up their items on display.Our artisans will be provided training here, near their own city, in modern designing methods, marketing strategies and all the skills that may be necessary for them to remain competitive and responsive to the requirements of a modern consumer.
“And I can say that in the not so distant future, no pilgrim or curious foreign traveller coming to Varanasi will think of returning to his place without having picked up something produced by weaver of craftsmen of the city”, Modi said to a huge round of applause.
The Prime Minister stressed his resolve to bring the eastern part of the country on par with western India as “the current imbalance makes our country like a person whose one hand is strong and the other one is crippled”.
“It is for this reason I came to this glorious city of eastern UP and our intention is to economically revitalise the entire eastern region which includes states like Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa and Assam”, Modi said.
Recalling a visit to Boston about a couple of decades ago, he said, “I was taken to a narrow street which, my hosts said, was called Benares street.
“When I asked why, they said it was inhabited by top intellectuals of that American city renowned for its academic achievements. They told me that for them, Benares signified enlightenment and hence the sobriquet,” he said.
The Prime Minister delivered his speech after inspecting a display gallery where exquisite samples of Banarasi saris and the famous carpets of Bhadohi-Mirzapur were put up.
He also interacted with artisans and inquired about the various processes involved in bringing out the products which are famous across the world.
Earlier Modi was received at the airport by Governor Ram Naik, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and senior member of the state cabinet Ahmed Hasan.
The Governor and the state minister shared the dais with the Prime Minister and the Union Minister at the venue of the function. (AGENCIES)
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