To encourage integrated and sustainable development of handlooms, crafts and tourism, the Textile Ministry has started work on the construction of craft handloom villages on important tourist circuits across Jammu & Kashmir, Assam and Kerala.

Showcasing products

“Craft handloom villages will be able to offer traditional hand-woven products to the consumers and tourists by inspiring knowledge about authentic weaving technique through ‘hands on’ experience,” according to a note prepared by the Ministry of Textiles.

At present construction work is going on for the crafts handloom villages at Mohapara (Assam), Kullu (Himachal Pradesh), Srinagar (J&K), Kollam (Kerala) and Rampur, Bodhgaya (Bihar).

“These craft villages are to be set up with the cooperation from the respective State governments,” the note said. The on-going exercise is in line with the announcement made by Textile Minister Smriti Irani last year of the government’s intention to develop ten craft and handloom villages so that handloom products are not limited to clothes or home furnishing alone. “More craft villages will subsequently be set up,” an official said.

The idea is to have tourists visit these handloom villages to not only learn about the weavers but also contribute to Aatmanirbhar Bharat by buying more of these items.

Design Centres

To help weavers, exporters, manufacturers and designers to create new designs in step with global demand, the Textile Ministry is setting up Design Resource Centres. A DRC is to come up in Kancheepuram, Tamil Nadu, while seven others have already been set up at Delhi, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Varanasi, Guwahati, Bhubaneshwar and Mumbai.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW