Make handloom uniforms mandatory: MHHDCL
Source: The Sangai Express / DIPR

Imphal, March 21 2018: Manipur Handloom & Handicraft Development Corporation Limited (MHHDCL) has appealed to the State Government to make uniforms tailored from handloom products mandatory for school and college students.

Addressing media persons at the ongoing series of press conferences organised by Directorate of Information and Public Relations at their Moirangkhom complex today, MHHDCL Managing Director K Lamlee Kamei stated that the corporation is in touch with the All Manipur Recognised Private School Welfare Association regarding supplying and selling of handloom products to educational institutions in Manipur.

The main objective of the company is to develop, aid, advise, assist, finance, protect and promote the interest of handloom and handicraft units in the State whether owned or conducted by the Government, statutory bodies, companies, firms or individuals.

The Managing Director continued that the company is also engaged in buying various selective finished products of handloom and handicraft from local manufacturers for reselling them mainly at the Panthoibi Manipur Emporium, in New Delhi and Dakshinapan in Kolkatta.

The corporation, he said, has the responsibility of organising National Handloom Expo, Gandhi Shilp Bazar, Special Handloom Expo and Thematic Exhibition.

Production of garment and apparel and implementation of projects for promotion and development handloom and handicraft in Manipur are also the responsibility of the corporation.

Under, the National Handloom Development Programme (NHDP), 9250 weavers of five blocks of Manipur were sanctioned Rs 799.764 lakh.

He maintained that with an aim to save time and money for weavers, Handloom & Handicraft Delivery Scheme was also introduced in the State.

The main objective of the scheme is to provide raw material with buy-back arrangement at the doorsteps of weavers and artisans for further re-sale by various agencies through their emporia or by participating in National/regional level expos, he said.

Altogether 8674 weavers from all districts of the State have been enrolled till date under the Handloom Delivery Scheme and now the enrolment of weavers is done through biometric system, he added.

He stated that Government of India has initiated technical training programme for Scheduled Caste and altogether 320 artisans from 16 Scheduled Caste villages are participating in the training programme.

The objective of the training is to provide technical skill to the SC artisans and introduction of new techniques and technologies for enhancing production to suit the taste and preferences of contemporary market, he added.

The corporation has also recently inaugurated an Urban Haat at Nillakuthi, Imphal East.

The haat is providing marketing platform for weavers and artisans with various cuisines of different tribes of Manipur.

Lamlee Kamei asserted that the Urban Haat will be on the same model of Dilli Haat, however, different groups will showcase their finished products on rotational basis for a period of 15 days.

He also said that the corporation has also supplied 1000 cotton bed sheets with pillow covers for the guests who attended the recently concluded 105th Indian Science Congress at Manipur University.

The Eastern Railways has also placed an order for supply of 5,228 pillow covers and 14,215 bedsheets to the Association of Corporation & Apex Societies of Handloom (ACASH).

The corporation has also opened a centralised yarn depot where yarns are made available at mill gate price.

Silk yarn, cotton yarn and acrylic yarn are available at the depot at present, he added.

He continued that the corporation is the implementing agency of the Apparel & Garment Making Centre, Lamboi Khongnangkhong and the centre has 320 numbers of machinery and equipment in three production units.

This centre will help in diversifying the handloom products into apparel and garment for niche market.

He also asserted that in order to encourage the use of local handloom products and production of quality fabrics, awareness campaign in the form of Shumang Leela will be staged.

The corporation is planning to open emporiums in all districts of the State and extend credit facility in the form of yarns with a small margin of loans to registered and enrolled weavers of the delivery scheme.

The corporation is also encouraging handloom weavers and handicraft artisans to become self-sustained entrepreneurs in the handloom and handicraft sector.

At the same time, the corporation is also encouraging more male weavers for converting domestic production into commercial production, he said.

The corporation has been promoting use of vegetable dyes with local varieties like Kusum Lei, Ureirom, etc.

and the corporation is developing e-marketing under the banner of panthoibi.com, he added.

The media interaction was also attended by General Manager of the corporation E Jeetan Singh and Joint Director of DIPR W Phajaton as the moderator of the session.

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