Olympic medallist Saikhom Mirabai Chanu will be appointed as the brand ambassador of Manipur Handloom by the state government soon, state Textiles, Commerce and Industry Minister Th Biswajit Singh said on Saturday. He also said that financial assistance was given to 21 handicraft artisan awardees for 2020-21.
Biswajit made the announcement while delivering the chief guest speech during the celebration of the 7th National Handloom Day on Saturday at Manipur Secretariat, Imphal.
The minister announced that the state government is making efforts to revive the Manipur Spinning Mill and make available good quality yarn without any interruption. He said that the handloom industry in the state has a legacy of unrivalled craftsmanship and it is spread throughout the length and breadth of the state.
In order to support the weavers and handicraft artisans of Manipur, the present government has introduced many welfare schemes and missions like Mission for Economic Empowerment of Traditional Artisans and Craftsmen (MEETAC), e-marketing, Delivery Schemes, Garment Fair, Yarn Supply Scheme of 20 per cent subsidy, MANITEX and others, he added.
Further stressing and explaining the details of different schemes and missions of the government, he said, it clearly shows that the present BJP-led government cares for the weavers and artisans of Manipur.
The main objective of the state government is to stress the need of creating livelihood, employment generation through eco-friendly traditional and natural industry and at the same time uplift the socio-cultural tradition of the state, he said.
Recalling the historic Swadeshi Movement which boycotted the Manchester cloth and Liverpool salt, Biswajit appealed to the people of Manipur to start using handloom products of the state to uplift the handloom weavers of Manipur.
Recognising the contribution of weavers and artisans of Manipur towards the preservation and promotion of various crafts and tradition of Manipur for employment generation and to boost the confidence of the handloom weavers and promotional of handlooms, the state government has given various categories of awards to the weavers and celebrated the National Handloom Day, the minister said.
Handicraft-Artisan Awards
During the programme, financial assistance was given to 21 handicraft artisan awardees for 2020-21.
In the state award, at least five craftpersons were awarded Rs 1 lakh each; in merit award, six crafts-persons were awarded Rs 50, 000 each, and in inspirational and consolation awards, 10 crafts-persons were awarded Rs 10,000 each by the state government.
Awards were also distributed to 34 outstanding weavers and artisans for 2019-20.
The function was attended by Olympic silver medallist Mirabai Chanu as special guest and commissioner of Textile, Industry and Commerce RK Dinesh as function president.
