SME Times News Bureau | 10 Mar, 2020
Krishan
Pal Gurjar, Minister of State for Social Justice & Empowerment presented
awards to Divyangs artisan and entrepreneurs who participated in week long
exhibition cum fair “Ekam fest” organized by National Handicapped Finance
Development Corporation under M/o Social Justice & Empowerment.
The
Fest was inaugurated on 2nd March 2020 in the presence of Union
Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot, Union Minister
for RT&H and MEME Nitin Jairam Gadkari and Union Minister for Women and
Child Development and Textiles Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani. Ministers of State for
SJ&E Shri Krishan Pal Gurjar and Shri Rattan Lal Kataria were also present.
Addressing
on the occasion Shri Gurjar said that such an effort of organizing exhibition
cum fair exclusively for PwD entrepreneurs and organizations working for the
PwDs is attempted for the first time at such a scale. 82 Divyang artisans and
entrepreneurs from 17 States/UTs showcased their products in the week long Ekam
Fest.
The
Ekam fest gave platform to PwD artists to present their skill in the cultural
evenings. In the Ekam Fest, Divyang Entrepreneur and artisans from all over the
country had been invited with representation from J&K to Puducherry and
from Nagaland to Gujarat.
The
Fest presented vibrant products of from J&K and NE with products ranging
from handicraft, handloom, Embroidery work and dry fruits.
In
the fest, live demonstrations of products making were given by around 12
organisations and artisans which included: live demo of looms, embroidery, free
and paintings, wheat grass paintings etc.
The
customers also availed food and head massage by visually impaired persons,
Astrological consultation by renowned divyang astrologers from Haryana.
On
the occasion of International Women Day (8th March), a free camp was
ogranised by NAB, Hauz Khas, New Delhi for examination for early breast cancer
by trained visually impaired women.
The
visually impaired women also set up a food stall where food was cooked live by
them and served to the customers. The Rotary club also set up food stall and
provided food @ RS 10 to the participants and also to other customers during
the Ekam fest.
All
the participants were provided a bill book for recording the sales by the NHFDC
foundation. During the Ekam fest a collective sales of more than Rs. 8 lakhs
was recorded from the bills despite the unprecedented rains and the health
alerts in the capital which affected the footfalls.
NHFDC
provides financial assistance to the Divyangjan (Persons with Disabilities) for
their economic rehabilitation and provides number of skill development
programmes to empower them to grow & sustain their enterprises.