15 lakh visitors at historic Delhi Hunar Haat, next in Ranchi: Minority Affairs Minister Naqvi

Feb 24,2020

The Union Minister for Minority Affairs, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, said that the 20th Hunar Haat, organised by Union Minority Affairs Ministry at India Gate Lawns, Rajpath, New Delhi from 13 to 23 February, was historic and successful. He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, and Lok Sabha Speaker, Om Birla had visited Hunar Haat and encouraged artisans and craftsmen.

Addressing the media on the conclusion of the 20th Hunar Haat yesterday, Naqvi said that more than 250 artisans, craftsmen and culinary experts from across the country participated in the Hunar Haat. For the first time, the participants included more than 50% women artisans. He said that this ‘Hunar Haat’ proved to be a ‘mega mission’ of empowerment of indigenous legacy” and economic empowerment of artisans as sale worth crores of rupees of their indigenous products took place. They also got large scale orders for their products from India and abroad.

The Minister said that Minority Affairs Ministry will get these artisans and their products registered on “GeM” (Government e-marketplace). The Ministry is also in discussion with several export promotion councils so that these artisans and craftsmen receive large scale orders from India and international markets regularly, he informed.

Naqvi pointed out that during ‘Mann Ki Baat’ on 23 February, Prime Minister Modi appreciated Hunar Haat, artisans, craftsmen and their exquisite indigenous handmade products. He said that Prime Minister made a surprise visit to Hunar Haat and his visit gave a tremendous boost and worldwide recognition to the talent of Indian artisans and craftsmen. Modi also enjoyed kulhad ki chai and Bihar’s litti-chokha, and interacted with artisans and also took information about their indigenous products, Naqvi added.

Naqvi further said that the visit of the Prime Minister gave tremendous publicity to Hunar Haat as the number of visitors increased day by day after his visit. More than 15 lakh visitors, both domestic and international, visited Hunar Haat at India Gate Lawns, Rajpath, in these last 11 days.

Besides, renowned artists, singers and poets enthralled the audience daily with their performance. These artists included Anu Kapoor, Surendra Sharma, Manzar Bhopali, Praveen Shukla, Nikhat Amrohi, Shambhu Shikhar, Dilbag Singh, Bhupinder Singh, Simple Sisters, Mukesh Pancholi and others.

The Hunar Haat at India Gate Lawns was inaugurated by Union Minister for Railways, Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal; Union Minister for Urban Development (Independent Charge), Hardeep Singh Puri and President, Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), Vinay Sahasrabuddhe on 13 February.

Naqvi said that this Hunar Haat, organised on the theme of ‘kaushal ko kaam’, witnessed the presence of Union Ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad, Smriti Irani, Mahendra Nath Pandey, Jitendra Singh, parliamentarians, senior officials, senior diplomats from various countries and other dignitaries from India and abroad. These dignitaries encouraged and lauded artisans and craftsmen and their indigenous handmade products, he added.