7 Feb :A delegation of senior officers headed by Secretary, Ministry of Rural Industries, Sri Lanka, Mr Nihalsomawaree with 24 National award winning craftspersons from Sri Lanka visited the 24th Surajkund Crafts Mela. Their motive was to study the functioning and set-up of the Mela and exploring the possibilities for organizing such art and crafts fair in their homeland. They were amazed to see the diversity of the Mela and have planned to organize a Mela of similar nature in Colombo somewhere in the month of July 2010.
Giving the details, Mr Nihalsomawaree said that Sri Lanka decided to organize the study tour after their participation in the Surajkund Crafts Mela last year under the SAARC Crafts Exchange Programme. He said that it had been decided that Sri Lanka would organize an art and crafts Mela in their country on the pattern of annual Surajkund Crafts Mela after this study tour. He added that the Haryana government and Surajkund Crafts Mela Authority extended their full support in this endeavour so as to further develop the Mela.
Mr D D Amarathunga, Director and Sharad Gunaidilake, Assistant Director of National Crafts Council expressed that that they had also brought their craftspersons so as to give them a glimpse of the Mela. He said that they would have a firsthand experience and knowledge after visiting the Mela and this study tour would be very useful and beneficial for organizing similar kind of fair in Sri Lanka.
They also appreciated the support of Haryana Tourism, Ministry of Textiles and the Central Government of India for extending whole hearted support to their effort to initiate process of organizing Surajkund Mela kind of a fair in Colombo and added that these discussions were extremely fruitful. They further expressed that it was a unique opportunity for the craftspersons to market their product directly and also to showcase their craft. They also expressed that such an event will certainly open the windows of success for poor craftspersons in Sri Lanka.
Mr Nihalsomawaree later met the Smt. Urvashi Gulati, the Chief Secretary, Haryana to discuss the participation of craftspersons of Haryana in Colombo through the platform of Surajkund Crafts Mela. Smt. Gulati promised to extend full tactical support in this regard. Speaking to the press at Panipat, Sh. O.P.Jain, Tourism Minister, Haryana also promised to extend full support in this regard. He was overwhelmed by the response Surajkund Mela generated up till now.