NE NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, FEB 23
The Union Minority Affairs Ministry will ensure that the products of artisans and craftsmen participating at ”Hunar Haat” be registered on ”Government e-Marketplace” and is also in touch with several export promotion councils for facilitating large scale orders for them from India and abroad, said Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Sunday.
Speaking to reporters on the last day of the event, organised by his Ministry, he said the ”Hunar Haat” at the India Gate Lawns, Rajpath was “historic and successful” and was visited by several dignitaries, including Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
“Today during ”Mann Ki Baat”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi appreciated ”Hunar Haat” and artisans, craftsmen and their exquisite indigenous handmade products. By mentioning ”Hunar Haat”, the Prime Minister has reiterated our government’s commitment to promote and encourage the legacy of our indigenous arts and crafts, Naqvi said.
Talking about Modi’s surprise visit to ”Hunar Haat” last week, the minority affairs minister said his visit gave a tremendous boost and worldwide recognition to the talent of Indian artisans and craftsmen.
“Prime Minister Modi also enjoyed ”kulhad ki chai” and Bihar”s delicious ”litti-chokha”. During his about one-hour long presence at ”Hunar Haat”, the prime minister visited several stalls and interacted with artisans and also took information about their indigenous products, Naqvi said.
He said the prime minister gave tremendous publicity to ”Hunar Haat” as the number of visitors increased day by day after his visit.
“More than 15 lakh visitors, both domestic and international, visited ”Hunar Haat” in these last 11 days. The visitors encouraged the artisans and craftsmen, and also enjoyed traditional delicacies of various states at the ”Bawarchikhana” section, he said.
Naqvi said the ministry will get the products of artisans and craftsmen registered on Government e-Marketplace (GeM).
Government e-Market Place is a dynamic, self sustaining and user-friendly portal for making procurement by government officers.
The ministry is also in discussion with several Export Promotion Councils (EPCs) so that these artisans and craftsmen receive large scale orders from India and international markets regularly, he said.
At the ”Hunar Haat”, from February 13-23, singers and poets enthralled the audience daily with their performance.
Artists such as Anu Kapoor, Surendra Sharma, Manzar Bhopali, Praveen Shukla, Nikhat Amrohi, Shambhu Shikhar, Dilbag Singh, Bhupinder Singh “Bhuppi”, among others performed at the ”Hunar Haat”.
The ”Hunar Haat” here was based on the theme of “Kaushal Ko Kaam”. Master artisans, craftsmen and culinary experts, with over 50 per cent of them women, from across the country participated in the event.
Naqvi said the next ”Hunar Haat” will be organised in Ranchi from February 29 to March 8 and in Chandigarh from March 13-22.
In the coming days, ”Hunar Haat” will be organised in Gurgaon, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Dehradun, Patna, Bhopal, Nagpur, Raipur, Puducherry, Amritsar, Jammu, Shimla, Goa, Kochi, Guwahati, Bhubneshwar, Ajmer, among other places, the minister added.
