Rural crafts, handlooms expo of NABARD gets underway

NABARD organizes rural crafts exhibition in Hyderabad, showcasing artisans' products from 20 states, promoting rural development and entrepreneurship.

A week-long rural crafts and handlooms exhibition organised by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) at Kamma Sangam Hall in Ameerpet here got underway on Wednesday.

Artisans from 20 States are displaying their products at the ‘Grameen…Celebrating Development’ exhibition. The bank has been organising the exhibition for the last ten years under the ‘Deccan Haat’ brand. It was decided to change the name of the expo to maintain uniformity, NABARD said in a release.

At the inauguration, speakers led by Commissioner of Handlooms, Textiles and AEPs Shailaja Ramaiyer sought to highlight the significance of supporting rural artisans and providing them with marketing opportunities.

Appreciating NABARD for continuing to provide the platform to artisans for showcasing their products for the 11th year, Ms. Ramaiyer said the bank is doing a great job by identifying the requirements of the customer and working backwards to encourage the artisans diversify and further improve their products.

While assuring Telangana government support in preserving the State’s crafts by maintaining their quality and through promotional support, she called upon the artisans to work towards improving skills for meeting the customer needs.

NABARD CGM B. Uday Bhaskar said for over four decades the bank is focussed on helping rural artisans and handloom weavers build their capacity to enhance their skills, diversify products and scale up to bring rural arts and crafts to a stage of enterprise. It has been funding training programmes for the rural youth in various activities the areas are famous for. He urged people to utilise this opportunity to buy various rural artefacts and handlooms under one roof in Hyderabad.

Officials of RBI, Telangana Grameen Bank and Ni-MSME spoke.