Vijayawada: Minister Vidadala Rajini exhorts people to buy handicrafts

Vijayawada(NTR District): Minister for Health and Medical Education Vidadala Rajini exhorted people to buy handicrafts to promote artisans and handicrafts. She inaugurated 5th NABARD Crafts Mela-2023 at Maris Stella Indoor Stadium here on Tuesday.

Speaking on the occasion, she said that the aim of the mela is to encourage artisans, engaged in various handicrafts and handlooms as well as rural women, who manufactures different products, to display their products and sell them at reasonable rates. She advised the artisans to fine tune their products with varying market requirements and learn the best practices from other artisans attending the mela.

As many as 65 stalls have been set up in the exhibition displaying products like handlooms from Venkatagiri, Mangalagiri, Pochampalli, Maheshwari (Madhya Pradesh), Kalamkari, Wooden toys of Kondapalli, Etikoppaka and Tirupati, glass products of UP, leather puppets, jute bags, jewellery, decorative and other products from Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal and Telangana.

NABARD Andhra Pradesh Regional Office Chief General Manager MR Gopal, APCOB Jhansi Rani, APCOB MD RS Reddy, Guntur DCCB chairperson R Seetharamanjaneyulu, AP State Handicrafts Development Corporation chairperson B Vijayalakshmi and other senior officials of banks and government departments were present.

NABARD General Manager NS Murthy welcomed the participants and briefed the gathering about the event and its importance.

MR Gopal explained the purpose of the exhibition and other activities being taken up by NABARD for the benefit of persons engaged in various artisanal activities. He also informed about the Stall-in-Mall initiative of NABARD where artisans are selling their products in a premier mall in Vijayawada.