Earlier, most of the people in India dint even knew that a Textile Ministry exists in our country but recently it came into lime light all of a sudden and drew attention of a lot of people, when the Central “Human Resource Development” Minister, Smt. Smriti Irani was transferred to the Textile Ministry. And now, on the event of ‘National Handloom Day’, both the Union Textile Minister Smriti Irani and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have urged the people to use more and more handloom products so that this domestic industry could be benefitted. It is termed as both eco-friendly and also a source of employment for the weavers of our country.
The National Handloom Day was declared last year as 7th August in July last year after receiving requests from various quarters saying, “Observance of National Handloom Day would generate awareness about the importance of handloom industry as a part of our rich heritage and culture, promote handloom products and lead to increase in income of weavers as well as enhance their confidence and pride”.
On the occasion, an event was organized which marked the second National Handloom Day. The event had awarded various weavers along with inking a number of MoUs.
PM Modi tweeted that, “On #NationalHandloomDay, let us affirm that we will give an impetus to the handloom sector & use more handloom products in our daily lives”. In another tweet he added, “Our handloom sector is diverse, eco friendly & is a source of employment for countless weavers, who will be very encouraged by our support.” “Since there are many women associated the handloom sector, growth of the handloom sector is an important means of women empowerment also,” PM said while focusing the need of woman empowerment.
PM Modi is of the view that other than agriculture, it is the textile sector of our country which can not only create employment for the poor but can also make a distinct image of India on the Global map. It has a wide scope of development and is India’s biggest strength.
The Textile Minister, Smriti Irani, also laid emphasis on the need of rejuvenating the handloom industry and all the weavers associated with it. Irani also posted a number of tweets fir celebrating the rich handloom heritage of our country. She expressed her gratitude to all the people related to the textile industry for keeping our heritage alive all these years. “I wear handloom and urge the citizens of the country too to lend their support for using handloom products to benefit lakhs of weavers,” she said.
On #NationalHandloomDay, acknowledge, promote & celebrate richness of our handloom heritage pic.twitter.com/52DuonnbHl
— Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) 7 August 2016
When the Uttar Pradesh Textile Minister, Mehboob Ali, draw her attention over the condition of weavers, Irani took the charge and directed her department that all the welfare schemes of Center which are meant for weavers should reach them directly. She also announced a helpline number where the weavers can register their grievances. She delightedly informed that the NDA Government has announced a sum of Rs. 33,000 crore for the Textile Ministry of India. Irani also urged all the retail chain owners and e-commerce websites to provide space to handloom products and give them a platform for selling their products.
At the event, Irani presented ‘Sant Kabir award’ to three weavers and ‘National Handloom Awards’ to 20 of them.
“I cannot afford to buy your high-end costly products as I am not getting payment from Saas-bahu serials but from the government,” she said on a lighter note. “I wear handloom’ hashtag has made a massive development and nearly 10 crore people have endorsed it till date” she added.
At the event, Smriti Irani was looking beautiful in a handloom saree which was woven especially for the occasion by our weavers.
