Times of India, India
VARANASI: There is a strong need to preserve handicraft that has defined the rich cultural heritage of this old city for centuries: Said BB
Vahan, joint director, ministry of textiles, Government of India, while inaugurating a ‘Handicraft Marketing Workshop’ in Sarnath on Wednesday.
Highlighting a number of programmes to promote handicraft in Varanasi region, Mangala Singh, assistant director (handicraft) said the region was witnessing 17 Ambedkar handicraft development programmes, innovative design training programme and special handicraft training programme for artisans.
“As many as 68,664 artisans in the region have got identity cards while 522 artisans have witnessed distribution of Rs 1,76,90,000 as loan under credit cards scheme,” he added. “In addition, 68,000 artisans have been also included in Rajiv Gandhi Health Insurance Scheme in the region,” he informed.
The marketing and service extension centre, under the office of the development commissioner (handicraft), organised the workshop.