Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has set up a “Khadi Eri Silk Training cum Production Centre” at Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh bordering China and Bhutan.
The centre is aimed at reviving the silk industry and boosting the local economy of Arunachal Pradesh.
The centre inaugurated by KVIC Chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena has been set in Tawang at an altitude of nearly 14,000 feet and is equipped with infrastructure like handlooms, Charkha, and Silk reeling machines and warping drums, etc. The centre is providing direct employment to 20 women artisans of the Tawang and West Kameng districts.
The centre has been set up with the assistance of the Buddhist Culture Preservation Society, Bomdila, which has provided the building for the Silk Centre.
The Khadi Silk Centre in Arunachal Pradesh is inspired by the Prime Minister’s vision of creating sustainable development in the remotest of Indian places and creating livelihood for the locals under “Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan”. This is the second Silk Training cum Production Centre set up by KVIC in Arunachal Pradesh in less than 2 years. Earlier, KVIC had inaugurated Eri Silk Training cum Production Centre in Village Chullyu of Arunachal Pradesh on September 17, 2020.
KVIC Chairman V K Saxena said the “Khadi Eri Silk Training cum Production Centre” aims at reviving the Silk Industry in the entire North East which was almost destroyed in the last few decades. “This facility in Tawang will be a big boost to spinning and weaving activities in the entire region. Training of artisans and supporting the production of Eri Silk, which is indigenous to the North-Eastern states, will create local employment and sustainable development in the region” he said.
He said the young designers and professionals of NIFT will also provide training to Khadi artisans at this centre to introduce new designs and develop trendier clothing to suit the modern taste of tribal youths.
“For centuries, silk has been intrinsic to the life of people in the North East but the flooding of low-quality silk in these markets also destroyed the Silk industry from North East. The development assumes significance as the tribal population in Arunachal Pradesh, men and women alike, traditionally wear Eri Silk and Khadi Cotton clothes which carries a deep significance to their egalitarian tribal society” a statement issued by KVIC said.
KVIC also aims to connect the centre with the tourists visiting Tawang and thus providing an assured market to the local artisans for their products.
