NABARD Rajasthan Regional Office celebrated the 12th National Handloom Day under the theme “Empowering Rural Artisans for a Viksit Bharat”, highlighting the need to strengthen livelihoods and market opportunities for handloom and handicraft artisans.
The programme was inaugurated by NABARD Rajasthan Chief General Manager Dr. R. Ravi Babu and Padma Shri awardee and renowned Bagru artisan Ram Kishore Chhipa.
Dr. Ravi Babu said handloom remains vital to rural livelihoods, noting that the sector supports around 35 lakh families nationally and 10,090 weavers in Rajasthan, with women forming a significant part of the workforce. He stressed technology adoption, design innovation, credit access, market linkages and institutional convergence to improve artisans’ incomes and livelihood security.
He highlighted NABARD initiatives including GI certification and authorised-user registration for 23 Rajasthan products, support for Rural Marts and Rural Haats, Producer Organisations, exhibitions and skill-development programmes.
Chhipa urged citizens to wear handloom at least once a week and called for combining diverse Indian traditions to create products with wider market appeal.
