Sisodia felicitates 16 handicraft artisans with state awards

New Delhi, Jul 21 (PTI) Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Thursday felicitated 16 handicraft artisans with State Handicraft Awards for their contribution in the field of folk art and culture, an official statement said.

The awards were given for the year 2018 and 2019 for folk paintings, beads craft, sculpture, terracotta, pottery, embroidery among others, it said.

Awarding the artisans in a ceremony, Sisodia said that handicraft artisans are the major contributors in India's exports and economy and the Delhi government will always stand in their support to help them boost their business all over the world.

"Handicrafts are a valuable cultural heritage of India, which have been passed on from generations. Artisans of Delhi are working hard to take the legacy forward. Delhi has always been a hub of art and culture, especially handicrafts. The handicrafts such as meenakari, zari-zardozi, metal carving, wood art, miniature paintings, toys and doll making and carpet weaving are appreciated all over the world," the statement quoted Sisodia as saying.

He said that to further boost the handicrafts sector there is a need to connect the sector with technology and make handicrafts available online.

"India has over 7 million handicraft artists and their contribution in exports is about 1.5% and introduction of technology in the handicraft sector can increase its contribution in country's exports up to 10%. Artisans must use technology and mark their presence online all across the world. Government will provide all the support to help them get their business online," he said in the statement.

There are two categories in which the handicraft artisans are awarded by the government, namely "State Handicraft Award" and "State Handicraft Excellence Award".

Along with certificates, winners of "State Handicraft Awards" are given the prize money of Rs 30,000 and winners of "State Handicraft Excellence Awards" are given the prize money of Rs 20,000.

Meera Jha (Sujni Embroidery), Sumitra Devi, (Madhubani Painting), Mukesh Kumar, (Terracotta) were given State Handicraft Award 2018 while State Handicraft Excellence Award 2018 were given to Hasan Sheikh (Lac Craft), Sapna Karn and Sheela Devi in Madhubani Painting while Gaurav Pathak and Manish Sharma in Paper Mache.

Similarly Deepanshu Verma (Metal Craft), Ritu Sangal (Tanjore Painting), Amit Dhawan (Inlay On Wood) were given State Handicraft Award 2019.

State Handicraft Excellence Award 2019 were conferred on Poonam (Artificial Jewellery), Padam Khare (Doll Making), Vikky (Kathputli), Rajni Kiran Jha (Madhubani Painting, Ramvati (Paper Mache).

Sisodia further said that there are various museums across the world which have hundreds of handicrafts from India on display.

Japan has “Mithila Museum” dedicated to Madhubani paintings, a folk art of Bihar. The museum has over 800 such paintings. Similarly, the British Art Museum has over 1000 folk paintings from South India. This means that India has much potential in this field, he said. PTI AKM RCJ