Minister for Industries and Commerce, Chander Parkash Ganga has said that the handloom sector is playing pivotal role in uplifting the socio-economic condition of the artisans of the state and government is contemplating to introduce innovative techniques for developing the sector on modern lines.This was stated by the Minister while chairing the 63rd meeting of Board of Directors of J&K State Handloom Development Corporation (JKHDC) held here today.Vice-Chairman JKHDC and Minister of State for Hajj & Auqaf, Industries & Commerce Syed Farooq Ahmad Andrabi besides Administrative Secretary, Industries and Commerce department Shailendra Kumar, Managing Director J&K HDC Showkat Ahmad Zargar, Director Handloom Department Rakesh Kumar Sharma and other Board Members also attended the meeting.Minister for Industries and Commerce, who is also the Chairman of the Board, said the government has launched many initiatives to promote and encourage the handloom sector in the state adding that for this purpose number of government schemes have been initiated to help handloom weavers combat the challenges of globalization and modernization.Ganga stressed upon the management to further improve the resource generation by establishing showrooms at Shimla and Mussoorie. In this regard, he directed the officers to visit both the cities as this matter is of great significance in terms of enriching the resource generation for the Corporation.
While reviewing the physical and financial achievement of JKHDC, it was informed that the corporation has fixed a sale target of Rs 15 crore to be achieved during the year 2016-17 and for this purpose it has fixed the sale target of Rs 120 lakh to be achieved by its regional office New Delhi.During the meeting, it was informed that Ministry of Textiles, Government of India is sponsoring Handloom Expo to be organized by JKHDC in the month of December 2016 and January 2017 at Katra.While reviewing the progress on online marketing and promotion of products, the Minister stressed for introducing e-commerce by the month of May 2017 to further improve sale of handloom products. Vice Chairman of the Board, Farooq Andrabi emphasized on building customer trust by branding the products to be showcased at various handloom showrooms established in different cities.Shailendra Kumar stressed that all efforts should be made to achieve the target and exhorted upon the officers to chalk out an effective monitoring mechanism for improving the performance of the Corporation.Managing Director JKHDC Showkat Ahmad Zargar apprised the meeting about the working and activities of the Corporation including financial and physical achievements.On the occasion, Members of the Board gave various ideas, including more assistance to handloom sector to attract the youth.