The UP government distributed loans of over ₹1,000 crore to 11,755 artisans across the state on Sunday at the One District One Product (ODOP) summit dedicated to ‘Chikan and Zari-Zardozi’.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath handed over cheques and tool kits to 10 artisans at the event organised at Awadh Shilpgram here. Loans were distributed to artisans in their respective districts through banks.
“With the help of the ODOP project, we have been able to give employment to 1.65 lakh people across UP,” said Adityanth addressing the gathering.
“Soon, we will be able to give employment to 10 lakh people. Before the election, we had promised to promote traditional art and craft. We are fulfilling our promise,” said the CM.
{{/usCountry}}“Soon, we will be able to give employment to 10 lakh people. Before the election, we had promised to promote traditional art and craft. We are fulfilling our promise,” said the CM.
{{/usCountry}}“The states of Jammu & Kashmir and Andhra Pradesh have also launched the ODOP project,” he added.
Assuring all help to artisans and industrialists, the Adityanath said: “Industrialists of UP have a bright future. There will be no dearth of funds for promotion of artisans. The government will also assist in branding and marketing of products.”
Attacking the previous state governments, the CM said: “Previous governments did nothing for artisans. Instead, they played politics of divide and rule. Youths had no option but to migrate from the state.”
The traders, selected under the ODOP project, doing brisk business on e-tailer, Amazon were also felicitated by the CM.
Also speaking on the occasion, Satyadev Pachauri, minister for khadi and village industries, stated that the ODOP project played a major role in reviving the micro small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector in the state.
Anup Chandra Pandey, chief secretary in the state government, stated Amazon had started providing training to artisans and industrialists in several districts.
“Amazon has provided a platform to 150 industrialists. IKEA is associating itself with artisans of wood craft in Saharanpur and Bareilly,” said Pandey.
IKEA is an international home furniture brand of Sweden. Representatives of Amazon and IKEA also addressed the gathering.