Dr Virendra Kumar, Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, e-inaugurated the fifth Northeast India Traditional Fashion Week (NEIFW) 2021, in the presence of Ministers of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Km Pratima Bhoumik, A Narayanaswamy. The secretary of the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disability (DEPwD), Anjali Bhawra, was also present at the inaugural ceremony.
Dr Kumar welcomed all and congratulated DEPwD and the National Institute for the Empowerment of Persons with Visual Disabilities (NIEPVD) for this innovative programme for divyangjan belonging to the Northeast. He assured that this will be made an annual event to promote indigenous and traditional skills across India and preserve the heritage of each community of the Northeast through this divyangjan movement. He opined that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji, many national mission programs are being implemented and the citizens of the country are benefitting from it. Thus, all the national institutions of DEPwD must act as a strong link and expand their services so that the divyangjan get the full benefits of all these national mission programs such as the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, National Bamboo Mission, Skill Development.
He also added these kinds of events will certainly encourage entrepreneurial avenues for divyangjan, while generating employment opportunities for them. All the institutions of the department, including eight national institutes, Rehabilitation Council of India, National Trust, National Handicapped Finance, Development Corporation and Artificial Limb Manufacturing Corporation of India are also conducting various awareness programmes during this event. With an inclusive approach towards divyangjan, this event seeks to enrich the Make in India movement by mainstreaming divyangjan along with promoting the indigenous culture and art-forms of Northeast India.
Narayanaswamy added that the Northeast region of India is historically known for its fine artisans and has a very advanced and large-scale informal artisan entrepreneurship for their textile, handloom and craft industry. Bhoumik shared that Women from the North-East are known for their skills in the weaving, textile and craft industries. She also highlighted how the indigenous and traditional skills of the Northeast in the areas of silk-rearing, silk-extraction, weaving, wood-craft, bamboo craft, organic cultivation, orchids are some avenues that can be explored for encouraging the skill-training and mainstreaming of divyangjan.
Anjali mentioned that as a part of the ‘India@75 national celebration’ and flagship programme for Northeast India, the divyangjan movement will gain momentum gradually and it will be a milestone for empowering the specially-abled towards an inclusive India.
NIEPVD, Dehradun is organising NEIFW 2021 intending to cater to the divyang populace and stakeholders to promote the arts and artisans of Northeast India. It aims to empower and uplift the divyangjan from the various tribes and ethnic groups of the Northeast, encouraging the textile and craft industry to take an inclusionary approach. The NEIFW focussed on skills and entrepreneurship building, artisan training workshop, the exhibition of divyang artisans, a traditional dress show and the traditional cultural festival. This will not just create awareness about the skills and abilities of divyangjan but also help promote their employment avenues. Members of the divyangjan community, along with their families and representatives of other NGOs, DPOs, parent organisations, special schools, special vocational centres and cooperatives from all eight North-Eastern States are participating in this historic event that will pave the way forward for re-engineering the concept of skilling, employment and entrepreneurship of divyangjan across the country.