Union Textiles Minister of India, Smriti Irani emphasized on the need to introduce intellectual property (IP) protection for handloom weavers of India, at a recently held Handloom conference in New Delhi.
“Every weaver has their unique designs and craftsmanship which needs to be protected and acknowledged. It is important to ensure a framework where intellectual protection rights can be introduced and ensured for handloom weavers”, said the Minister.
She feels that handloom is the country’s legacy and its potential needs to be positioned and acknowledged not only domestically, but also globally. At the conference, she also cited the example of domestic retail brand Biba that procured 2 lakh metres of handloom cloth in August this year and introduced two new collections in the month of November this year.
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The Textiles Minister also stressed on the need for product development in the sector and informed that 60 natural dyes and chemical free dyes have been registered so far under ‘India handloom brand’ launched by Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India.
