Tripura DyCM says handloom business looks bright and seeks NABARD support

Deputy Chief Minister of Tripura Jishnu Dev Varma has urged the NABARD to help the state in developing its handloom sector so that it can compete with players in the national market.

Agartala: Tripura's Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Varma has asked the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) to form a team to develop the handloom sector of the state and to carry out a study on how the state can compete with the national market for its handloom products. While addressing a program on Friday, Varma claimed that the future of Tripura in handloom was as bright as other sectors in the state, however, it needs to grab the national market.

"Handloom is not a business but a part of India's history and culture. The future of Tripura in the handloom sector is very bright as handloom is holding a good market across the country. Indigenous women of our state are very good at weaving clothes. However, there are not enough handloom products being produced by the Bengali community, as most of the skilled weavers are taken away by Orissa, West Bengal. Though we have more resources and skills than any other state in our country, but the then government did not take any step to market the handloom products of our state," DyCM Varma claimed.

He further claimed that after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in Tripura in 2018, people from other states got to know about Risha (a traditional indigenous handmade cloth) and added, "Risha is the face of Tripura now, just like the Mysore silk or the Moga in Assam."

"I have asked the General Manager of NABARD to conduct research on how we can create a market for our handloom products in the national market. We have cotton and silk too, but not as famous as Assam silk because we are not capable enough to take it to the national market," he said. "I will request the NABARD to make a team and to see how we can develop the handloom sector of Tripura," Varma added.