Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 15: Following the registration of seven world-famous handicrafts of Jammu & Kashmir under Geographical Indication of Goods (GI) Act, the Government is now actively pursuing GI registration of five more crafts for quality assurance so that their marketing in the national and international market receives considerable fillip.
This information was given out in a meeting and video conference chaired by the Commissioner/ Secretary, Industries & Commerce, Manoj Kumar Dwivedi, today.
The meeting was attended by Director Handicrafts & Handloom, Kashmir, Mussarat Islam, Director, Handicrafts & Handloom, Jammu, Vikas Gupta and Director IICT, Zubair Ahmad.
The crafts shortlisted for GI registration include Basohli Pashmina & Painting, Tweed fabric, Loi blankets from Kishtwar and Chikri craft from Rajouri district. While Craft Development Institute is the Nodal Agency for GI registration of Loi blankets & Tweed, NABARD shall facilitate GI registration of Basohli Painting & Pashmina and Chikri crafts.
With the objective to restore handicrafts glory of Jammu & Kashmir and ensure substantial remuneration for artisans and weavers, the Commissioner/ Secretary informed the meeting that GI registration followed by certification and labelling shall enable quality assurance of these products and the right to use the indication to prevent its misuse by a third party or unauthorized user whose product does not conform to the applicable standards. GI label, he added, shall also be used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or reputation that are due to that origin.
While emphasising upon bringing more and more indigenous crafts within the ambit of GI tagging, Dwivedi directed all the concerned officers to take necessary steps to expedite completion of requisite formalities so that the crafts exclusive to Jammu and Kashmir are empaneled with GI Registry.
With liberal funding from the Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India, a Testing-cum-Certification Centre has already been established for GI labelling and branding of products. For GI certification of carpets, the Government is in the process of upgrading the existing lab in the Indian Institute of Carpet Technology (IICT), Srinagar.
After inspection and testing, GI label is fixed on the product. The label contains requisite product information and also has an alphanumerical code on it for product verification, the press hand-out stated, adding that GI certification shall boost export of famed handicrafts and handloom products from Jammu & Kashmir and also stem the sale of machine-made and fake items in the name of genuine handmade products.
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