AT Photo
Agartala, Aug 1: National Institute of Design (NID) Ahmedabad has been roped in for conducting workshops on bamboo and rubber furniture in Tripura to put an impetus on the manufacturing of the indigenous craft with international standards.
The capacity building workshops are being conducted under the “One District One Product” slogan of the government of India.
“For rubber furniture, the state government has selected the Gomati District while the craftsmen of the West Tripura District will receive training on manufacturing of bamboo furniture”, said a resource person from NID Ashok Mondol.
On being asked about the training programme, he said, “Basically, NID has been entrusted with the responsibility to conduct workshops for 75 selected clusters all over the country. In Tripura, we have two clusters at Killa in Gomati district and the other one is in Bamutia under West Tripura District. The Bamutia cluster members are being trained on the bamboo furniture designs”.
The first workshop started on Sunday at Berimura community Hall in West Tripura district. A sizeable number of women bamboo artisans have attended the workshop.
“The training that we are imparting here will help the artisans incorporate world class designs in their work. Our course module is keenly designed keeping in mind the taste of international markets. If they can implement what is being taught here, the bamboo furniture of Tripura will surely grab the eyeballs of international buyers. Consequently, employment opportunities in this particular sector will rise adding the element of a sustainable revenue model”, Mondol added.
On the Killa workshop to be held in August, Mondol said, “There the training will be on rubber furniture”.
Meanwhile, Chairperson of Tripura Rehabilitation Plantation Corporation (TRPC) Patal Kanya Jamatia who was also present at the inauguration of the workshop said that this was just a beginning.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s slogan of self-reliance can only stand vindicated if each and every community can stand on its own feet. State and the central governments have rolled out hundreds of schemes to help people find sustainable revenue models. This is why this is a government with a difference”, Jamatia told media persons.
