Bhubaneswar(Kalinga Voice) :A State-Level Handicrafts Exhibition has been inaugurated by Smt. Padmini Dian, Minister, Handlooms, Textiles & Handicrafts, today in the presence of Smt. Subha Sarma, Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Handlooms, Textiles and Handicrafts Department, Additional Secretary Sri Kailash Chandra Sahoo, Director, Directorate of Handicrafts and Cottage Industries Sri Sanatan Nayak, Special Officer Sri S.R. Pradhan.
The craftsmanship of Odisha has its specific identity. 50 different crafts have been approved by Govt. of Odisha practiced by more than 1.30 lakh artisans in varied degrees and are dispersed throughout the state. The State has got best craftsmanship with 168 artisans honored with National level Awards including 5 nos. of Padma Awards and 11 nos. of Shilpigurus. Besides, 293 nos. of artisans have been conferred with State level Awards.
Govt. of Odisha in Handlooms, Textiles & Handicrafts Department is providing promotional supports for growth of the handicraft sector including market assistance by organizing exhibitions. Various need based interventions are provided to the individuals, SHGs, Cooperative Societies and apex bodies for capacity building, skill up-gradation training, supply of improved tools and equipments, providing bank linkage, infrastructure development, product designing & diversification, marketing assistance to participate in different exhibitions etc.
In order to produce market-oriented products, design development programmes engaging designers from inside and outside the state are conducted in clusters to create wide range of products. Step is being taken for online Marketing of handicraft products.
To provide a platform for marketing of the products of the clusters and individual artisans, an exclusive state-level multicraft exhibition is organized by the Directorate of Handicrafts & Cottage at IDCO Exhibition Ground, Unit-III, Bhubaneswar to facilitate the artisans/ SHGs/ Handicrafts Co-operative societies to display & sell their products. 111 stalls have been erected and artisans are participating in the exhibition from 21 districts such as Keonjhar, Jajpur, Balasore, Subarnpur, Baragarh, Khurda, Nayagarh, Dhenkanal, Puri, Mayurbhanj, Cuttack, Kendrapara, Sambalpur, Nabarangpur, Ganjam, Kandhamal, Bhadrak, Kalahandi, Koraput, Rayagada, Sundargarh etc. It is expected to attain a business turnover of
Rs.80.00 lakhs during this event.
