Lieutenant Governor Sinha inaugurates NIFT youth festival
Srinagar, June 6
Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha today inaugurated the two-day annual youth festival of the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT)—Spectrum-24—at NIFT campus, Ompora, Budgam.
In his address, the Lt Governor congratulated NIFT Srinagar for providing opportunities to the students of Kashmir Valley to explore their hidden talents in performing arts, sports, fashion shows and literary programmes.
“Our youth power is building a prosperous future of J&K. Youth are our biggest strength and they are committed to take the UT to greater heights,” Sinha said.
He said the two-day festival is also an opportunity for youngsters to exchange innovative and creative ideas for promoting rich cultural and artistic heritage. Sinha commended the contribution of NIFT Srinagar in the area of design development and positioning of handlooms and handicrafts and providing new career avenues to the aspiring youth of J&K in fashion, design and management.
“Our handloom and handicraft sector has undergone a major revolution in the last 4-5 years. Students of NIFT can play a decisive role in design development and positioning of handloom and handicraft products,” he added.
Sinha said the students should get themselves acquainted with the precious handicraft tradition of Jammu and Kashmir, so that they can assist the Handicrafts Department in brand positioning and to incubate new ideas in different product categories.
Sinha also talked about the policy reforms introduced by the UT Administration to transform the handicraft and handloom sector. In June 2023, the administration notified 32 new crafts and at present the total number of registered crafts has increased to 60. It is also being ensured that every handicraft artist and weaver gets the benefit of GI certification, testing, labelling and training, the Lt Governor said.
He called upon NIFT students and faculty members to support artisans in brand positioning, product designing and packaging. Sinha also highlighted the important role of academic institutions in establishing India as a knowledge economy.
“Higher education sector in J&K is going through reformative changes. Institutions like NIFT should also make the necessary reforms, aligned with NEP 2020, to meet the future needs of the market,” he added.
