Govt mounts efforts to draw youth to handloom sector

Efforts are being made to attract the youth to the handloom sector and connect players with reputed designers from institutes like NIFT, the government said.

"The government is giving a lot of importance to the handloom sector, which is India's pride and heritage. It is already providing a lot of support and schemes for the sector and will continue to do so to train and skill people, provide markets and upgrade their technologies," Textiles Additional Secretary Pushpa Subrahmanyam was quoted as saying in a statement by Ficci.

To mark the importance of handloom in social and economic sphere, Ficci today celebrated the second National Handloom Day by organising exhibition of various handloom materials from various parts of the country alongside B2B events.

The exhibition is in line with the government's directive to celebrate August 7 as the National Handloom Day every year. The first such day was celebrated on August 7, 2015.

The objective is to generate awareness about importance of the handloom industry as part of the country's rich heritage and culture, especially among the youth, promote handloom products and lead to increase in income of weavers as well as enhance their confidence and pride.

"It is very important that we understand the true potential of handlooms and handicraft and its significant role in providing employment to a vast segment of craftspersons and preserve the intangible heritage of our country," FLO President Vinita Bimbhet was quoted as saying in the statement.