New Delhi: The Minister of State for Social Justice & Empowerment, Krishan Pal Gurjar, presented awards to differently-abled (divyang) artisans and entrepreneurs who participated in the week-long exhibition cum fair, Ekam fest, organized by the National Handicapped Finance Development Corporation (NHFDC) under the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, here today. The Fest was inaugurated on 2 March, in the presence of Union Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment, Thaawarchand Gehlot, Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Nitin Gadkari and Union Minister for Women and Child Development and Textiles, Smriti Irani.
Addressing on the occasion, Gurjar said that such an effort of organizing exhibition cum fair exclusively for divyang entrepreneurs and organizations working for them is attempted for the first time at such a scale. He informed that 82 divyang artisans and entrepreneurs from 17 states/UTs showcased their products in the week-long fest.
The Ekam Fest gave a platform to such artists to present their skill in the cultural evenings. Differently-abled entrepreneurs and artisans from all over the country had been invited with representation from Jammu & Kashmir to Puducherry and from Nagaland to Gujarat. The Fest presented products like handicrafts, handloom, embroidery work and dry fruits.
In the fest, live demonstrations of product making were given by around 12 organisations and artisans which included a live demo of looms, embroidery, freehand paintings and wheatgrass paintings. The customers also availed food and head massage by visually impaired persons, and astrological consultation by divyang astrologers from Haryana.
On the occasion of International Women Day (8 March), a free camp was organised by NAB, Hauz Khas, New Delhi for examination for early breast cancer by trained visually impaired women. The visually impaired women also set up a food stall where food was cooked live by them and served to the customers. The Rotary club also set up a food stall and provided food at Rs 10 to the participants and also to other customers. All the participants were provided with a bill book for recording the sales by the NHFDC foundation. During the fest, collective sales of more than Rs 8 lakh were recorded from the bills despite the unprecedented rains and the health alerts in the capital which affected the footfalls.
NHFDC provides financial assistance to differently-abled persons (divyangjans) for their economic rehabilitation and holds skill development programs to empower them to grow and sustain their enterprises. Source: https://indusdictum.com/
