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Form societies to market products, weavers advised

Itanagar: Arunachal Pradesh First Lady Neelam Misra on Tuesday called upon the womenfolk of the state, especially weavers, to form societies, produce local handloom products and sell them in the market to be financially empowered.

“The local weavers of Arunachal Pradesh must get together as a self-help group (SHG) for financial empowerment. They must join hands, form societies, produce local handloom products and do their viable marketing,” Mirsa said.

The first lady said this while interacting with the local weavers and sericulture farmers from the state whom she led on two-day exposure tour to Assam.

The team visited the Silk Weaving Center of Indian Weavers Alliance Inc. in Batiyapara Village, Assam on Tuesday.

During the visit, the inmates of the Silk Weaving Centre shared their organizational set up, indigenous methods of spinning of Eri Silk, demonstrated processing of Eri and Muga Silk, Yarn processing from cocoons to fabric and natural dyeing methods.

Emphasizing that the method of the Batiyapara weavers can be adopted by the Arunachalee counterparts, Misra said such concerted effort will hone their specialization, provide assured self-employment and ensure better earning.

She further advised the weavers to adopt latest technologies for making their products commercially more attractive and affordable.

She also stressed on quality control, maximum use of natural fibers and natural colors and suggested inculcating new concepts to attract the global market.

Misra advised the participants to make maximum use of their experience from the visit and requested the Indian Weavers Alliance Inc. to help and provide assistance to the Arunachalee weavers, which they readily agreed.

The two-day exposure was organised by the department of textile and handicrafts.

The officials’ team was led by the sericulture director Barnali Sur and OSD Kari Lombi.