Excelsior Correspondent
KATHUA, Apr 27: Union Minister of State for Railways and Textiles, Darshana Jardosh, today chaired a meeting to review and discuss the issues faced by the Handloom and Handicraft Department in the district.
During the meeting, the Union MoS emphasized the importance of focusing on value addition and training of artisans, in addition to market linkages and e-commerce platforms.
Union MoS called for development of a complete ecosystem from production to distribution, stressing that this would help in achieving the government’s goal of creating a self-reliant India. She exhorted upon the Handloom and Handicraft Department to work towards this goal by providing artisans with the necessary training and resources to help them enhance their skills and capabilities.
Jardosh also emphasized the need to establish ODOP (One District One Product) stalls at railway stations, which would not only provide artisans with a platform to showcase their products, but would also help in promoting local handicrafts and handlooms. She stressed that this would not only benefit the artisans, but would also help boost the local economy.
She further called for the training of artisans in gift packaging, which would enable them to provide attractive packaging for their products and thereby increase their marketability. She emphasized that such training would not only help in increasing the income of artisans, but would also help in promoting the ‘Make in India’ initiative.
While discussing the need to bring synergy between central and UT level agencies to promote textile in the region, the Union MoS called for making concerted efforts so as to improve the overall outcomes besides boosting the export of the local articrafts.
Earlier, Union MoS interacted with artisans of Pashmina, Basohli Paintings and other crafts who have received skill development training in the district. She said that the Government of India is extending handholding to create proper eco system for nurturing and preserving art forms besides giving marketing avenues to get good value of their crafts.
She also gave away successful training completion certificates among all the trainees and also encouraged them to implement what they have learn during their training so as to enhance their earnings.
Union MoS also took a detailed review of prestigious Shahpur Kandi Dam Project wherein she was briefed about the status of ongoing works and the benefit to be derived from the project chiefly catering to the irrigation water needs of Jammu and Kashmir.
Later, MoS inspected the ongoing works on NHAI expressway near Chadwal. She also interacted with the workers and engineers on the site to understand the challenges they are facing. Besides, she also interacted with the locals and took feedback regarding the progress on the works.
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