New Delhi:Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said the Union Government is aiming to increase the annual turnover of rural industries from Rs. 80,000 crore to Rs. 5 lakh crore in two to three years. He was delivering the inaugural speech at the 26th Hunar Haat at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in the national capital.
"The irony that our rural industries did not get the kind of encouragement they should have. But our government is focused on promoting rural industries," Singh said.
Congratulating the artists and craftsmen at the fair for utilising the lockdown time, Singh said: "realising the sense of opportunity in a disaster our artists and craftsmen utilised the lockdown period and created a large number of handmade materials in the hope of the "skill haat" 2021."
'Hunar Haat' is a national platform for artisans in the country to showcase their products. The 10-day-long 'Haat' has been organised by the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs.
Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Mansukh Mandavi was the chief guest at the inaugural function of Hunar Haat. Lok Sabha MP Meenakshi Lekhi also attended the occasion as an honoured guest. Earlier, Union Minister for Minority Affairs, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi had said that more than 600 artisans and artisans from more than 31 states and union territories are participating in Hunar Haat in New Delhi.
Artists and craftsmen from Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Ladakh, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland, Odisha, Puducherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal etc. are participating to showcase and sell their exquisite indigenous handmade products.
The Defence Minister further said that this Haat is a beautiful exhibition of our traditional art and craft and more importantly our "cultural mosaic."