Jammu : NABARD is the country’s apex level development institute, which is dedicated to the progress and development of rural areas of the country. Apart from agriculture, it also works for the development of small industries, cottage industries and rural projects. To encourage rural crafts, NABARD is organizing All India Crafts-Art Mela – “Gramya 2022” at Kala Kendra, BikramChowk, Jammu from September 26 to 2 October 2022. It was informed by General Manager NABARD Jammu, Sandeep Sharma at a press conference held here on Wednesday.
Deputy General Manager NABARD, Anamika and Deputy General Manager Rahul Shashni were also present on the occasion.
This type of National Exhibition is being organized by NABARD in Jammu for the first time wherein artisans and craftsmen from across the country will showcase and sell their handloom and handicraft products.
The main objective of organising this exhibition is to provide a platform to the artisans of Jammu and Kashmir and other states to display and sell their products. There is a good influx of tourists to Jammu during Navratras, due to which there will be good footfall in the exhibition, which will lead to good sales. The exhibition will provide a suitable opportunity to SHGs/Artisans/FPOs/OFPOs to showcase their products, understand customer preferences, learn new marketing skills as well as develop a customer base. This will also improve their financial condition.
Artisans and craftsmen from across the country will display their exclusive handloom and handicraft products for sale in the exhibition. Special and authentic products from different parts of the country will be available in this exhibition, which are generally not available in Jammu and Kashmir.
Artisans are bringing their own products, due to which the sales proceeds of the products sold will go directly to the artisans and no commission of any middleman will be involved in this, due to which the price of the products will also be reasonable and comparatively lesser from the market.
In this way, both the artisans and the customers will be benefitted. Stalls from 18 states across the country i.e. Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan Gujarat, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and also from South Indian states like- Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, etc will be installed.
The GramyaMela is featuring some of the exclusive products like Tussar silk Sarees from Jharkhand, Jaipuri quilts and CharmaJuttis from Rajasthan, Chikankari from Uttar Pradesh, world famous Mithila and Madhubani paintings from Bihar, Jute products from West Bengal, Palmyra from Tamil Nadu and banana fiber products etc. Some of the local products from J&K i.e. Basohli pashmina, Kashmiri carpet and Organic haldi, Honey, etc. are also displayed in the exhibition.
The shopkeepers of Jammu can directly contact the artisans and craftsmen visiting this fair and can buy and sell their exclusive products in Jammu through tie up arrangement. This will directly benefit both the shopkeepers and the artisans.
