Exploring the wonders of handloom

The national Capital can buy exquisite silk products in the national Capital as Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Minister of State for Textiles (Independent charge), government of India inaugurated the Silk Fab exhibition at Constitution club on Monday. 

Santosh Kumar Gangwar said, “The exhibition enables an interface between weavers and consumers.” Silk products drawn from some of the exotic locations of India are on display and sale at the exhibition, such as Gadwal, Dharamavaran from Andhra Pradesh; Muga silk from Assam; Tussar, Kantha, Madhubani painting from Bihar; Tribal work, Kosa silk and Kantha from Chahattisgarh; Gathjora, patola from Gujarat and many others.

Silk Fab Exhibition is an initiative of the Development Commissioner of Handlooms, Ministry of Textiles, government of India through National Handloom Development Corporation (NHDC) to provide direct access to the handloom weavers to market the products to consumers in various cities of India. The participants are from various State government bodies/apex societies, primarily Handloom Weaver Societies and Handloom agencies. 100 agencies belonging to 15 states are participationg. The exhibition has participation from weavers who are recipients of National Award for design.

The handloom sector of India employs 45 lac people directly or indirectly which is next only to agricultural sector in the country. Government of India has launched the “Handloom Mark” scheme for handloom products, to encourage and give a distinct identity to the products, apart from highlighting the uniqueness of the products. 

It also serves a guarantee for the buyer that the product being purchased is genuinely handwoven. All exhibitors at the Silk Fab have been encouraged to display the “Handloom Mark” tag on the products and thus aim to improve the earnings of the handloom weaver community.