State Khadi Mela 2022-23 begins, fair to continue till January 16
KOLKATA: Chandrima Bhattacharya, Minister of State (MoS) for Finance department while inaugurating the State Khadi Mela 2022-2023 at Taltala Ground on Friday said that through fairs like this market is created for women who are learning the craft and help people generate self employment through handicraft.
Bhattacharya emphasised on the need for fairs such as Khadi mela and stated that when market is created for the weavers and artisans, it leads to exchange of money and thus leads to the betterment of economy.
She also broached on the topic of making the process of weavers and artisans procuring cards a little relaxed and convenient, to ensure that the complexities of the formalities does not lead to them unable to get loans. She said that the issue was raised at the State-level banking committee meeting a while back. The inaugural ceremony of the fair was presided over by the Chairman of WBKVIB Kallol Khan. Mayor Firhad Hakim was present at the fair as Chief Guest. The special guests and guests of honour included state minister of Agriculture and Parliamentary Affairs department Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, Rashbehari MLA Debasish Kumar, CEO of WBKVIB Sumita Bagchi and Councillor Moshumi Das, amongst other dignitaries.
Starting from Friday, the mela will continue till January 16 for people to come and buy khadi products from the local artisans and artisans coming from different districts of the state. The fair will be kept open from 1 pm to 9 pm. According to the Rashbehari MLA Debasish Kumar, even though the ground on which the fair has been organised is smaller compared to many big grounds that the city has, the area is more accessible to people as it is centrally located. The fair has a total number of 113 stalls and sells various products made of Khadi and by the artisans of different districts of Bengal. The fair is decorated with stalls selling products like rural handicrafts, wooden dolls, silk fabric from Murshidabad, folk art and rugs, amongst others.
Various projects are being run by the state Khadi and Village Industries Board, which is an organisation under the state Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Textiles with an aim to improve the employment of marginalised people and the socio-economic standard of rural artisans. To increase production, common production centres and modern equipments have also been provided. Apart from this, trainings have been given by the board to improve the artisan's skills. According to the board, through the different projects conducted, around 47,000 jobs have been created for artisans including rural women.
