ITANAGAR, Aug 7: The 9th National Handloom Day was observed by the Weavers’ Service Centre, Extension Centre Itanagar of WSC Guwahati under Ministry of Textiles, Govt of India in the conference hall of the Department of Textiles and Handicrafts, GoAP here today. The event saw a huge participation of local weavers, and artisans.
Gracing the event, IMC Mayor Tamme Phassang urged the participants to follow their passion and work with dedication. He said that the Central and State Govts are coming up with various schemes for the local artisans and weavers, and encouraged them to avail the schemes benefits. He lauded the local weavers and artisans who, through their hard work, dedication, and talents, have “kept our rich tradition of weaving and arts alive”.
EAC Khoda Lasa said we need to promote local weavers to preserve and promote our traditional crafts. “In this era of modernisation, we must remember the significance of supporting our local weavers and handloom industries. By doing so, we not only contribute to the growth of our economy but also safeguard our cultural heritage for generations to come,” Lasa added.
Renowned designer cum artist Taba Yall Nabam, while sharing her success story, told the participants how her passion for designing and weaving led to creation of ‘Khinam’, a celebrated brand of Arunachal. She shared instances of her earlier days when during visits to various states and witnessing their rich cultural designs prompted her to pursue her passion for designing.
She emphasized the need to bring the designers, weavers and artisans of the state to the forefront, so that the aspiring ones can follow suit.
Assistant Director, WSC Itanagar, Utpal Ch Baro said that the occasion holds great significance for our cultural heritage and the countless artisans who have preserved the art of handloom weaving through generations. He highlighted how the Swadeshi movement led to encouraging the use of locally produced handloom textiles.
Through a PPT, he explained in brief about the different components of National Handloom Development Programme (NHDP) like Cluster Development Programme (CDP), Skill Upgradation Training, Social Security Schemes, Marketing Support to Weavers by Expos, Branding of Handloom Products, Scholarship, Awards of Handloom Weavers’ etc, and the various schemes for handloom weavers of 18-59 years age group.
Assistant Manager, Digi Bunai Arunachal Pradesh, Sony Malhotra through a PPT highlighted the benefits and functions of the free app Digi Bunai CATD for weaving which is an open source software to optimise the process of design creation, generation of graph and punching the Jacquard cards while weaving etc.
Earlier, the Mayor visited the emporium and the stalls set up by local artisans, and interacted with the weavers and artisans. During the event, the dignitaries also handed over certificates for CATD, weavers Yarn Passbook, weavers Artisan Card and HSS to the beneficiaries.
NAMSAI: Joining the rest of the country virtually, Namsai district today celebrated the 9th National Handloom Day with live streaming of the central programme from Delhi at the DC’s conference hall here. More than 100 distinguished weavers from active clusters of Namsai and Lohit districts attended the event.
Addressing the gathering, Additional Deputy Commissioner S Mining, in his speech, cited the importance of handloom products in India and stated that these products are not a mere piece of cloth rather a bearer of our diversity in culture and tradition.
He requested the weavers to keep practising the art of weaving and pass on the knowledge to the future generation. Namsai ZPM Jenia Namchoom also spoke about the importance of handloom in our culture and society.
As part of the celebration, a technical session was conducted by the officials of WSC, Guwahati and NHDC, wherein the information of major initiatives being undertaken by Govt of India for the development of handloom sector like Mudra loan, skill upgradation, social security schemes, marketing support to weavers by Expos, Cluster Development Programme (CDP), branding of handloom products, education for wards of handloom weavers among others were disseminated.
In his keynote address, Biswajit Das, Tech Supdt (P) of WSC (Guwahati), highlighted the role of WSC and the importance of the handloom sector. During the celebration, SAMARTH training certificates, Yarn passbook and HSS items were distributed to the weavers.
In an effort to encourage the weavers, two state awardees namely, Shriyong Singpho and Kenrik Bagra were felicitated during the programme. They shared their success stories with the weavers present.