Shillong, May 10: The Centre is keen to support the state of Meghalaya to promote its handloom weavers, artisans and textile sector as a whole. This was informed by the Minister in-charge Textile Paul Lyngdoh on Wednesday.

Lyngdoh told reporters that the Minister of State for Railways and Textile Darshana Jardosh has visited the state on Wednesday and interacted with the handloom weavers and artisans besides distributing the Poshan ID cards to them.

“I will be meeting her and this will be a courtesy call on the minister and also to highlight some of the issues concerning the weavers and artisans and other members who are linked with the textile industry,” he said.

According to him, there is a need to increase the level of awareness among the weavers and artisans on the functioning of the textile department through the public representatives and traditional institutions and their heads so that the government can reach out to them.

When asked, the minister said he would be submitting a formal memorandum to the central minister while adding that “she (Darshana) has already expressed keen interest to support the state of Meghalaya.”

“For instance, there are various programmes including flagship programmes of the ministry where some of these are totally funded by the ministry and some programmes will have the state share incorporated into it. Those will be points that I will be taking up with the minister,” he added.