Misra visits E/Siang, interacts with weavers

ITANAGAR, 9 Jul: Governor BD Mishra’s wife, Neelam Misra visited Oyan and Sille in East Siang district on 8 July to celebrate Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.

She visited the MG Community Skill Development & Training Centre in Oyan and the Sille farm of the textiles & handicrafts department, and interacted with the local weavers who are practising the age-old skill of loin loom weaving.

Paying tributes to the unsung freedom fighters of the state, particularly in the Anglo-Abor war, she said that “our celebrations become more meaningful when we integrate it with our culture and attire.”

Stating that loin loom weaving has been an important source of socioeconomic empowerment of women since time immemorial, she appealed to the people not to let the tradition “fade away in the pace of modernisation.”

She exhorted the people to promote and popularise loin loom “and contribute towards creating world-class textile products for our sustainable development.”

Impressed by Eri silk weaving, Misra said that SHGs must be motivated to take up enterprises in this sector “to help in making our products from local to global.”

She also witnessed the natural dyeing process and badu (traditional blanket) weaving of the Adi community. Misra then visited the rearing sections of Eri silk in Oyan and Sille, and later distributed yarns to local weavers as a token of appreciation and encouragement. (Raj Bhavan)