 Jammu, Mar 2 : The 15-day long special Handloom Expo-2014-15 titled 'Magical Weaves' commenced at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Spiritual Growth Centre, Katra today.
According to press release, Dr. Mandeep K. Bhandari, Chief Executive Officer, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, who was the Chief Guest on the occasion, inaugurated the Expo, which has been organised by the Directorate of Handloom Development Department, Government of Jammu and Kashmir, and sponsored by the Development Commissioner (Handlooms), Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, New Delhi. T. Angchuk, Director Handlooms, Dr. M. K. Kumar, Additional Chief Executive Officer, SMVDSB, Namrata Dogra, Deputy Director, Handlooms, Jammu, Pankaj Gupta, Deputy CEO of the Shrine Board, Anil Chandel, SDM, Katra, Sameer Kotwal, Additional SP, Katra, officers of the Handloom Development Department, civil and police officers, prominent citizens of the area, including Shiv Kumar Sharma, Rakesh Wazir andHarish Dubey, Expo stall holders and pilgrims were among those present at the inaugural function and witnessed the Expo. Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Bhandari lauded the initiatives of the Handloom Department for organising such Expo which provide platforms to the weavers to showcase their products. He said that this besides extending awareness about the latest designs of the products also provides a ready market to them. Referring to the organising of Expo at Katra, he added that since a large number of pilgrims from all over visit Katra, the base town for the Holy Cave Shrine of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Ji, he suggested for holding more such exhibition-cum-sales of handloom products at Katra.
In his welcome address, Angchuk said that 42 handloom cooperative societies from across the State are participating in this Special Expo, aimed at providing marketing opportunities to the handloom weavers and cooperative societies. The main objective of organizing Special Handloom Expo is to enable the consumers to purchase handloom products from different parts of the State under one roof.
He said that during the Expo, handloom products would be marketed at 10 percent rebate. |
