Governor Dr Najma Heptulla launched ‘Innovative Craft Souvenirs of Manipur’, Craft Map of Manipur and Mission for Economic Empowerment of Traditional Artisans & Craftsmen (MEETAC) Website at Raj Bhawan today. The Governor said the skills of our artisans are living symbols of self-reliance. They exemplify our heritage of creativity, aesthetics and craftsmanship. As a highly decentralized activity, the handicrafts and handloom industry of the State is a shining example of using local resources and skills. She said the handicraft and handloom sector in the State is un-organized. So far, the market potential of the State’s crafts has not been tapped properly, particularly outside the State, she added.
In spite of its importance to the economy, this industry has been facing numerous problems in terms of lack of proper organization, inadequate finance, unreliable sources of raw materials from outside the State, exploitation by middlemen in importing raw materials and also marketing of finished products. Besides this, owing to lack of quality control, it cannot withstand competition from outside products. Therefore, the MEETAC has been mandated with standardization of Crafts and Design Development with the help of Knowledge Partners and the development of a supply chain from Producers to the Consumers with active branding of Traditional Craft Products, the governor said.
National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, has been closely working with MEETAC as Knowledge Partner for the last one year in clusters of all the Districts of Manipur. As a result, MEETAC with NID has developed a new chain of Craft Souvenirs of Manipur. About 150 new Souvenir designs for 7 (seven) Traditional Crafts have been developed by the Artisans from various Districts namely Imphal, Senapati, Kamjong, Churachandpur, Tamenglong, Noney, Tengnoupal and Ukhrul under the expert guidance of NID, Ahmedabad.
Th. Biswajit Singh ,Minister (Commerce & Industry) & Chairman, MEETAC, Dr. Bindoo Ranjan, Project Head, NID & Project Co-ordinator, MEETAC,Anurag Bajpai, CEO, MEETAC attended the function. (UNI)
