By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, MAR 07, 2024: THE Union Minister for Textiles, Consumer Affairs & Food & Public Distribution and Commerce & Industry, Mr. Piyush Goyal during his interaction with beneficiaries of Textile Sector here today urged them in attendance to be vocal for local. "Be vocal for local and take local to global. That's the clarion call from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to showcase our products at the world stage", he said.

Goyal further noted that ramping up textile production in the country will spur income, open up employment opportunities and play a vital role in making the country 'Atmanirbhar' as well. The Minister urged the artisans to register their businesses on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM). He said that he has instructed GeM to register all artisans and weavers connected with handicraft and handloom without any registration fee.

Registering on the e-marketplace will boost the visibility of artisans and help promote businesses enhancing their income, said Goyal. He further said that the government would try to facilitate the GeM-registered businesses to be onboarded on major e-commerce websites in the country and push for registering their businesses on foreign websites prioritising handicraft and handloom. He noted that the support of the officials to the handicraft and handloom businesses, especially small enterprises, would help them create an identity through their craft on the GeM website.

With a special emphasis on promoting the 'Made in India' initiative, Goyal urged the officials to devise ways for the handicraft beneficiaries to gain from the 'Handmade in India' label and register greater income on their products. The Minister noted that businesses selling machine-made products under the 'Handmade in India' label should be penalised and said that the government would take firm action to protect the handicraft and handloom sectors.

Goyal said that the government is willing to procure the harvest of jute and cotton farmers if the market price is lower than the Minimum Selling Price (MSP). The Minister further said that the government is working towards increasing the production of jute and cotton and is willing to provide quality seeds, fertiliser for quality produce to fulfill the vision of farms to foreign exports.

He urged the textile sector to collectively work towards technological innovation that would ease the lives of the artisans and weavers and provide an impetus to their income. He thanked the beneficiaries for safeguarding the cultural heritage of the nation and hailed women's contribution in the textile sector.

Stressing on the need to redefine and present the handicraft and handloom at the world stage, the Minister said that the industry should work towards improving the quality and packaging of the textile products to increase the brand value and income of the artisans and weavers. He also said that with the convergence of schemes like PM-Suryoday Yojana (free solar-powered rooftop scheme), Samarth schemes and benefits from textile schemes would help the artisans benefit their businesses and transform their income.

He also highlighted the significance of textile sector in India as one of the largest employment generation sector and the benefits provided to them through various schemes of Ministry of Textiles. Goyal emphasized on PM's vision for "Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat" by amalgamating traditional heritage culture, technological advancement, innovation through research centres and empowerment of women.  Pertinently, it's the first beneficiary meet of Ministry of Textiles which was organised on such a large scale.

Present during the interaction was Minister of State for Textiles and Railways Smt. Darshana Vikram Jardosh and officials of Ministry of Textiles. Nearly 10,000 beneficiaries under different sectors including Handloom, Handicraft, Jute, Silk and Samarth across the country from 398 centres participated in the interaction. A total of 24 beneficiaries from 12 different locations individually interacted with the Ministers sharing their experiences on the benefits being received to strengthen their livelihood through various schemes of the Ministry of Textiles.