Srinagar: Union minister Darshana Jardosh on Sunday said Jammu and Kashmir has a vast potential in the textile sector and there was a need to tap it and make the region a textile-manufacturing hub.

Union Minister of State for Textiles and Railways conducted a whirlwind tour of the Srinagar district as part of the Union government’s public outreach programme for Jammu and Kashmir.

During the tour, the minister visited Government Arts Emporium at Raj Bagh, a silk factory and Bemina Wollen Mills.

At the arts emporium, she asked the officers to create awareness across the country about the products being sold here, tie up with e-commerce sites to market and sell the products online.

The minister added that the products of Kashmir are known worldwide and they need proper publicity and marketing.

During the visit to the silk factory, Jardosh interacted with artisans of papier-machie clusters, willow wicker clusters and crewel crafting clusters. She also distributed certificates among the artisans for participating in Colour and Design Trends workshop and Market Research and Buyer Trends Workshop.

She asked the officers to establish a common facility centre to impart required training and marketing techniques to the artisans.

The minister also visited the Directorate of Sericulture here and participated in Cocoon Auction Market 2021-22 and also interacted with cocoon weavers.

She underlined that the purpose of her visit is to ascertain the development of the textile sector in the Union Territory and added the government has launched several schemes for the development of this sector and the people associated with it should take due benefits of these schemes.

“Under the able guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the textile sector has seen a sharp growth. Technical infrastructure, as well as knowledge resources for the farmers, are given due importance,” she said.

Later, the minister visited Central Sericulture Research and Training Institute, Pampore, and interacted with the scientists of the institute on research and development of the sericulture sector across north India.