Pashmina shawls to be graded
With fake pashmina shawls flooding the markets, the Jammu and Kashmir government has decided to grade and affix a stamp of standard to the exquisite shawls under a Rs 9.48 crore project.
By PTI |
Jammu: With fake pashmina shawls flooding the markets, the Jammu and Kashmir government has decided to grade and affix a stamp of standard to the exquisite shawls under a Rs 9.48 crore project.
"To do away with the increasing sale of fake shawls, we will now be grading shawls which would carry a stamp of standard in the state," Assistant Director, Research, Animal Sciences, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agriculture, Science and Technology (SKUAST), Farooq Ahmed said.
The decision was taken in the wake of complaints by tourists to state tourism department over fake shawls in the market. Now, grading and standard fixing would not only prevent fake shawls, but also fix standard rates.
Thousands of Kashmiris are associated with the ancient trade. Women mostly spin and men weave the delicate yarn into warm, soft scarves and shawls, which are mostly embroidered.
Cheap and machine-made shawls, especially from Amritsar have in recent years hit hard pashmina trade with hundreds of weavers compelled to take to other professions.
Jammu-based shawl trader Imtiyaz Ahmed said the fake ones, especially from Amritsar, have put Pashmina trade in doldrums.
There are about 36,000 artisans associated with the industry in Ladakh and Kashmir Valley and due to downfall in production, the industry is battling for survival.
The shawl was last year awarded the Geographical Indication (GI) certification.
Pashmina is a type of fine Kashmiri wool shorn from a special class of indigenous goat found in high altitude Himalayan belt of Changthang in Ladakh region.
"To do away with the increasing sale of fake shawls, we will now be grading shawls which would carry a stamp of standard in the state," Assistant Director, Research, Animal Sciences, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agriculture, Science and Technology (SKUAST), Farooq Ahmed said.
The decision was taken in the wake of complaints by tourists to state tourism department over fake shawls in the market. Now, grading and standard fixing would not only prevent fake shawls, but also fix standard rates.
Thousands of Kashmiris are associated with the ancient trade. Women mostly spin and men weave the delicate yarn into warm, soft scarves and shawls, which are mostly embroidered.
Cheap and machine-made shawls, especially from Amritsar have in recent years hit hard pashmina trade with hundreds of weavers compelled to take to other professions.
Jammu-based shawl trader Imtiyaz Ahmed said the fake ones, especially from Amritsar, have put Pashmina trade in doldrums.
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There are about 36,000 artisans associated with the industry in Ladakh and Kashmir Valley and due to downfall in production, the industry is battling for survival.
The shawl was last year awarded the Geographical Indication (GI) certification.
Pashmina is a type of fine Kashmiri wool shorn from a special class of indigenous goat found in high altitude Himalayan belt of Changthang in Ladakh region.
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