‘Hunar Haat’ products to be on govt market portal

More than 15 lakh visitors, both national and international, visited the ‘Hunar Haat’, in the national capital, which concluded on Sunday and the Minority Affairs ministry has decided to get the products registered on ‘Government eMarketplace’ to give more publicity to artisans and craftsmen.

The ministry, which organises these Haat at different cities across the country, is also planning to rope in export promotion councils for facilitating large scale orders from India and abroad. Over 50 per cent women craftsmen and artisans were women, who participated in the event, which was organised at the India Gate Lawns.

Terming the 11-day long event “historic and successful,” Minority Affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surprise visit at the Haat gave a tremendous boost and worldwide recognition to the talent of Indian artisans and craftsmen.

Several other dignitaries, including Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu, Lok Sabha Speaker

Om Birla and Union ministers including Piyush Goyal, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Smriti Irani also visited the event.

“Today during ‘Mann Ki Baat’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi appreciated ‘Hunar Haat’ and artisans, craftsmen and their exquisite indigenous handmade products. By mentioning ‘Hunar Haat’, the Prime Minister has reiterated our government’s commitment to promote and encourage the legacy of our indigenous arts and crafts,” said

Mr Naqvi and added that Mr Modi’s visit gave tremendous publicity to ‘Hunar Haat’ as the number of visitors increased day by day after his visit.

The minister said that the next ‘Hunar Haat’ will be organised in Ranchi from February 29 to March 8 and in Chandigarh from March 13-22. In the coming days, ‘Hunar Haat’ will be organised in Gurgaon, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Dehradun, Patna, Bhopal, Nagpur, Raipur, among other places.