BHOPAL: The Madhya Pradesh Handlooms and Handicrafts Development Corporation has launched a social media campaign -‘#Local4Diwali’ to promote handloom and handicrafts products of artisans from the state this Diwali. More than 50,000 persons have joined the campaign.
Managing Director of the Corporation Rajeev Sharma says, “What we are trying to tell the people is that if they are buying clothes or decorative items or chocolates or anything else this Diwali for themselves or for gifting to others, they should go for local products.”
The Corporation has launched the campaign on November 9 on behalf of the Union Textile Ministry. It would continue till Diwali.
Besides the official Twitter handle and Facebook and Instagram pages of the Corporation, the campaign is also being run on the personal social media accounts of the officials of the Corporation. Artisans from the state have also been associated with the campaign.
The Corporation is seeking to promote clay-made items including diyas, hand-woven clothes, and hand-crafted decorative items produced in the state. “If people patronise locally-produced items, they would not only show their love for their country but also their concern for the crores of artisans engaged in making various kinds of products,” he says.
Sharma says that as part of the campaign, the Corporation is offering up to 30% discount on all products in its Mrignayanee chain of emporia across the country. “Usually, we do not offer discounts during the festive season,” Sharma says. The campaign has led to a jump in the sales of Mrignayanee products, he says.
Mohammed Bilal Khatri, a master craftsman of Bagh print and a national awardee welcomed the campaign. “It is a good initiative, though its impact on actual sales would be known only later,” he said.
Khatri said that his products are available on Amazon and Flipkart. “Mulberry silk saris with Bagh print produced by us are getting a good response on e-commerce platforms,” he said.
Lalit Soni, a state awardee bamboo artisan from Bhainsdehi in Betul district says that such campaigns may or may not lead to actual sales but they at least develop an understanding about local products among the people. “We have a website ‘Bamboo Art & Craft’ on which customers can order bamboo products. I am getting orders from Bengaluru, Pune, Delhi and many other places,” he says.
Soni says that he had trained some of the migrant labourers, who had returned to their villages in Betul following the lockdown, in making bamboo products.
