SME Times News Bureau | 22 Jul, 2021
So far about 1.5 Lakh weavers have
been on-boarded on the GeM portal, said the Minister of State for Textiles Darshana Jardosh in Rajya
Sabha on Thursday.
To support the handloom and
handicraft sectors and to enable wider market for handloom
weavers/artisans/producers, steps have been taken to on-board weavers/artisans
on Government e-Market place (GeM) to enable them to sell their products
directly to various Government Departments and organizations, she added.
To enhance productivity, marketing
capabilities and ensure better incomes, 124 Handloom Producer companies have been
formed in different States, the minister said.
Since it is not feasible to hold
conventional marketing events such as exhibitions, melas, etc. due to COVID-19
pandemic, Handloom Export Promotion Council (HEPC) has been organizing
International Fairs in virtual mode, facilitating marketing and sales of Handloom
Products in the domestic as well as international markets, she added.
During August-October 2020, 534
number of Chaupals were organized in various States to apprise the weavers
about benefits under various handloom schemes.
Design Resource Centres (DRCs)
have been set up in Weavers’ Service Centres (WSCs) at Delhi, Mumbai, Varanasi,
Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Bhubaneswar and Guwahati, through NIFT with the objective to
build and create design-oriented excellence in the Handloom Sector and to
facilitate weavers, exporters, manufacturers and designers access design
repositories for sample/product improvisation and development, said the minister.