Shillong Nov 9: The Meghalaya government has conferred five handicraft artisans with the State Award handicraft artisans for the year 2016-2017.

The awardees received the award from Health Minister, Roshan Wajri at a function organised by the Directorate of Industries and Commerce at the Industrial Training Centre, Lower Nongrim Hills, here on Thursday.

Certificates were also given away to128 participants of the Skill Development Training Programme on Packaging conducted for unemployed youth and entrepreneurs.
The one-month Skill Development Training Programme was conducted by the Indian Institute of Packaging, Kolkata.

While the state awardees for handicraft artisans received a cash award of Rs.50,000, a trophy and a certificate, the participants of the Skill Development Training Programme were conferred with a certificate for their participation.

Speaking on the occasion, Warjri while congratulating the state awardees for handicraft artisans said, it was high time for the youth of the State to train themselves in different skills as government jobs are getting scarce.

Stating that the State Award has been instituted by the government to give incentives and create awareness on different sources of livelihood, the Minister said, “there is no dearth of opportunities and resources in the State, but it only depends on how we use them.”

Speaking about the Skill Development Training Programme on Packaging, Warjri said that handloom and other products of the State were in high demand due to the quality of craftsmanship even as he stressed on the importance of packaging and marketing for entrepreneurs to move ahead for better and sustainable livelihood.

Additional Chief Secretary, P. W. Ingty in his address informed that the State Award for Handicraft Artisans was constituted by the government two years ago to give due recognition to traditional artisans, skilled in traditional crafts.

Mentioning that exposure and marketing are key to the growth of such artisans, Ingty hoped that the award and exposure given to the artisans at the national level would help boost production capacity and.