As many as 250 handloom and handicraft items of Manipur will be available on Amazon, a leading online shopping site.
An MoU was signed between the Manipur Handloom & Handicrafts Development Corporation (MHHDC) Limited represented by managing director E Jeeten Singh and Amazon Sellers Private Ltd, represented by Udyay Mehta, head, public policy (Ecommerce), Amazon on Monday during Manipur Heritage Expo, MoU Signing with Amazon Karigar and distribution of 2,475 looms at City Convention Centre, Imphal.
During the function, CM Biren thanked Amazon for acknowledging the importance and uniqueness of the state’s handloom and handicraft.
“We are proud of our handloom and handicraft products”, said CM Biren.
He said that it is indeed very fortunate for the state to have a platform under Amazon and the interest shown by Amazon to the handloom and handicraft products shows not only the uniqueness, but also the quality of the products.
“It is indeed very necessary to have geographical indications (GI) tag for the traditional dresses, craft items of the state’s tribes”, said CM Biren and spoke of the importance of GI tag of the state's valuable traditional and cultural items.
Appreciating the department officials for their commitment and dedication, CM Biren emphasised on maintaining quality of the items.
Talking about the trading and marketing system of the state that suppresses the local weavers by some profit earning sellers, Biren said that will not happen anymore. At the same time, there should be no compromise on quality, Biren said, further explaining the need for zero tolerance against corruption.
“State’s handloom and handicraft has a place in the world stage because of the hard work of our weavers and artisans”, said Biren.
Now that the Amazon platform is available, weavers will not face the lack of marketing space for their finished products, he said, adding that already 250 handloom and handicraft items have been uploaded on the e-marketing platform.
Expressing the need to preserve and encourage the handicraft and traditional items of the state, Biren appreciated the skill, talents of the people of the state and expressed pride in being a Manipuri and an Indian.
Further stating that weavers and artisans can also seek financial assistance under the Start-up Scheme, he informed that the budget for the Start-Up scheme has been increased to Rs 100 crore from this financial year. He also urged the weavers to inform him if there were any defects on the looms distributed.
Minister Nemcha Kipgen, attending the function, said that the expo will provide a platform to showcase the handloom and handicraft products of the state before the world. The state’s handloom and handicraft are known internationally, she said, adding that according to the National handloom Census Report, 2019, Manipur has around 2.12 lakh handloom weavers, around 2.11 lakh looms and around 2 lakh handicraft artisans.
“Our handloom and handicraft have helped in generating employment as well as income in our society”, the minister added.
MHHDC has already been tied up with Amazon since 2020 and was taking a key responsibility in providing an e-market platform for the state’s handloom and handicraft products during the COVID-19 pandemic through its own e-market platform called panthoibi.com.
Now, with the signing of the MoU, MHHDC will take a leading role for marketing the state handloom and handicraft products through Amazon.
It may be mentioned that 2475 fly-shuttle looms were also distributed to weavers from across the state under Upgradation of Loom Scheme as part of the ‘100 Action Points for First 100 Days’ of the new government. Dummy tokens for the looms were distributed to selected 16 weavers by the dignitaries during the function.
The function was also attended by MLA, Lamsang AC, S Rajen; MLA, Keirao AC, L Rameshwar Meetei; chief secretary, Rajesh Kumar and secretary, Michael Achom.
