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Silchar, March 10: Come April 3, two organisations from the Northeast will receive the prestigious President’s Award.
Manipur’s ETA Center and Tripura Bamboo and Cane Development Center will receive the awards for their contribution to promote traditional industry and rural products.
For 45-year-old Laimayum Gangarani Devi and her workmates at the ETA Center, putting the traditional art form into the Manipuri mekhela (phanek for some) and other indigenous outfits has become a passion. Seated on the ground their fingers work in perfect unison and beautiful colours and designs begin to emerge. The centre is not even a year-old but distinct embroidering from the members has redefined apparel collection during Manipuri marriages and other special occasions, driving women to pick the best designs on display.
“I am happy that the meticulous work to portray our home-grown art form is going to get the topmost recognition from the President of the country,” said an elated Devi over phone. She said her centre has 15 members who are passionate about designing the best attire, with the most in demand being the Khoi drawing.
With a mission and vision to set up a community-owned producer company in natural resource sector in the region, TRIBAC is an autonomous community-based non-profit organisation, which promotes business through the utilisation of the available resources.
The set-up aims to implement assorted employment-generating cluster development activities based on bamboo and natural resources through active community participation and handholding to the small producers’ community.
The organisation has earned significant achievements in the bamboo incense sector and in the introduction of pro-poor technology for wider replication.
These two centres have been selected from the list of organisations in eight states on the basis of zonal activity in the village industries category and under the Scheme for Utilisation of Regeneration of Traditional Industry (SFURTI).
The products made by these two groups have been a major crowd-puller in the ongoing National Khadi Utsav here.
Khadi Village Industries Commission Northeast regional chairperson, Sharifujjaman Laskar and deputy CEO, K.K. Gupta expressed happiness for the awardees.
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