Business

Smriti Irani Inaugurates Apparel Making Centre In Assam

Union Minister of textiles, Smriti Zubin Irani inaugurated an Apparel and Garment making center in Boragaon, Guwahati, Assam in the presence of Ranjit Dutta, Minister Handloom & Textiles and Irrigation (Assam), Bijoya Chakraborty, Member of Parliament for Guwahati parliamentary constituency and Mukti Gogoi, Commissioner and Secretary of Handloom Textiles and Sericulture Department of Assam among others. The entire panel of dignitaries was welcomed by a troop of Bihu dancers beautifully portraying the traditional Assamese culture.

Bijoya Chakraborty on her address elaborated on the scenario of textiles and handlooms in Assam. She proudly claimed that in most of the villages in Assam, every household owns a loom where they could produce tons of handmade textiles with traditional designs. However, the problem rests with lack of 'organized marketing' of the products and the intrusion of unscrupulous middlemen which is one of the major hindrances to these artisans, she explained.

This topic was further stressed by Assam’s textile minister Ranjit Dutta. Calling Smriti Irani as the state's daughter and pointing out that she had a family connection at Dhubri in Assam, he assured that the union textile minister is in the process of changing the scenario. Dutta also said that the State Government is going to sell the woven products from the households through ARTFED and added that a center of National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) will be set up at West Boragaon in a 60-bigha plot of land.

The inaugural session concluded with the speech by the Union Minister of Textiles Smriti Irani. She referred to the Vrindavani Bastra that used to be woven during the days of Srimanta Sankardeva. Irani spoke of the abundance potentials of handloom and textile industry in Assam. She said that her ministry would extend all help to Assam in all measures taken by the state towards development of hand loom and textiles and generation of employment avenues. She said that the App 'E-Dhaga' is now available in Assamese, and through this App, cotton and jute yarn can be bought by weavers. Getting rid of middlemen is a major motive of the App, she emphasized. The Union Minister also stressed on the importance of the promotion of "Eri Silk" which is also known as "Peace Silk" worldwide.

The dignitaries visited all the sections of the apparel and garment making center. Smriti Irani expressed her satisfaction with the unit and interacted with the operators and the team, encouraging everyone to continue the hard work and put their skills to the best use. Fabric Plus, an established company manufacturing Eri and Muga silk yarn and fabric in Assam, is the authorized operating agency for the apparel making center. Dilip Barooah, founder and managing director of Fabric Plus along with his team was present and guided the dignitaries through various sections of the unit which included the designing, cutting, sewing, inspection, packaging and storage sections.

Fabric Plus strives for ‘harnessing culture and technology to create livelihood’ which come true through this project.