Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Sunday said that 'Hunar Haat' has proved to be an effective and successful mission to preserve and promote India's indigenous traditional legacy of master artisans and craftsmen which was on the verge of extinction.
"While on one hand 'Hunar Haat' promotes traditional arts of master artisans and craftsmen, on the other hand, thousands of artisans and people associated with them including a large number of women artisans have been provided employment and employment opportunities through 'Hunar Haat'," Naqvi said.
The Union Minister for Minority Affairs inaugurated the nine-day festival 'Hunar Haat' at Sabarmati River Front here which will go on from December 7 to 15.
Naqvi said that 'Hunar Haat', being orgsed at prominent places across the country, has proved to be financially beneficial for the needy artisans and craftsmen as each such event generates business worth crores of rupees for indigenous handmade exquisite products of artisans and craftsmen.
These artisans are receiving orders for their products not only from domestic markets but also from international markets. 'Hunar Haat' have proved to be 'Empowerment Exchange' for master artisans and craftsmen.
The Ministry of Minority Affairs has sanctioned 100 'Hunar Hubs' in different parts of the country in the first 100 days of the Modi Government-2. Training will be provided to master artisans, craftsmen and traditional culinary experts according to modern needs in these 'Hunar Hubs'.
Next 'Hunar Haat' will be orgsed at Mumbai from December 20-31, Lucknow from January 10-20, 2020, Hyderabad from January from 11-19, Chandigarh from January 20 to February 1 and Indore from February 8-16.
In 'Hunar Haat', being orgsed at Ahmedabad, artisans and craftsmen including a large number of women artisans are participating.
The artisans have brought with them very exquisite pieces of handicrafts and handloom work from Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Mpur, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and other states.
( With inputs from ANI )