(a) whether the Government does not have any data of the current strength of artisans in the country;
(b) if so, the reaction of the Government in this regard;
(c) the year for which data is available with the Government and the procedure to obtain factual information on the basis of this data;
(d) whether a lot of difficulties are being faced in the development of these artisans in absence of the above said information; and
(e) the remedial measures taken by the Government in this regard?
MINISTER OF TEXTILES
(SMT. SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)
(a) to (c): No, Sir. The Office of Development Commissioner (Handicrafts), Ministry of Textiles has taken an initiative to issue Aadhar link identity card to Handicrafts Artisans under “PAHCHAN” initiative with effect from October, 2016. The Pahchan card has an information of Handicrafts artisan’s viz : Name & address, Aadhar Card number, Mobile number, craft practiced etc. The Office of the Development Commissioner (Handicrafts) has registered 25.04 lakhs artisans across the country under “PAHCHAN” initiative till date and the process is continuing. The details of the Handicrafts artisans registered under “PAHCHAN” is available on the official website of Office of Development Commissioner (Handicrafts) viz www.handicrafts.nic.in.
(d) & (e): The Office of Development Commissioner (Handicrafts) has taken up steps to organize number of camps through the field offices in the cluster area to enroll more number of artisans under PAHCHAN initiatives. Besides this, District Industries Centre dealing in handicrafts sector in the state have also been advised to share the list of handicrafts artisans enrolled with them to our field offices to enable them to enroll for issuance of photo identity card.
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