Sharad Yadav: Empowerment of artisans crucial to develop North East

Guwahati (Assam) [India], June 22 (ANI): Janata Dal United (JDU) leader Sharad Yadav on his recent visit to the Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE) in Assam's Guwahati said that artisans can develop the North Eastern region of the country. "If development can be brought to North-East then it can only be brought after artisans are empowered and what they need at the moment is the market", said Yadav. Recently, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on industry chaired by Yadav made a visit to the IIE to review the implementation of scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI) clusters in Assam and in the northeast region as a whole. SFURTI reinforces the development of traditional industries such as the handloom and handicraft industry in the Northeast. Many entrepreneurs were also a part of the event, as they had an opportunity to interact with clients and expand their business in long run. An entrepreneur who was a part of the event said, "Here we got to meet many clients and got to know many schemes that the Government is offering us and also when I initially started the production I took the loan in 2015." "I got two clients they want to take my products so that is the benefit I am getting", he added. Nine Members of the committee headed by Yadav made an assessment of the varied range of exhibited products such as bamboo crafts, handloom products etc. The Committee also aims at setting up marketing facilities in metro cities like New Delhi and other cities which is expected to promote the exquisite products which is a long cherished demand of the cluster artisans. On a similar note the Committee also visited Meghalaya's Shillong to review the implementation of the scheme. (ANI)