To showcase India’s rich handicraft heritage and make it accessible for the visitors and tourist to experience, Ministry of Tourism’s Dekho Apna Desh Webinar ‘Mysuru : Craft Caravan of Karnataka’ offered an immersive tour of crafts forms namely ChannapatnaToys , Rosewood inlay craft that have been thriving for centuries around the city of Mysuru.

The 19th session of the Dekho Apna Desh webinar series on 14th May 2020 was presented by Ms. Susan Thomas, Director, NIFT, Bengaluru Dr. YathindraLakkanna, Faculty NIFT Bengaluru and Ms. Shipra Roy, Faculty NIFT Bengaluru. They highlighted on the richness of India’s looms and craft and the need to build an alternate narrative around craft tourism and help indigenous craft find a spot on the tourist map. The presentation also unveiled the opportunities for visitors to Mysuru to travel behind-the-scenes, to the towns and villages of craftspeople, who have helped preserve and nurture varied craft forms for Mysuru.

Crafts are not only integral to India’s rich heritage and culture , they can become a central part of India's economy. In keeping with the Prime Minister’s call for ‘Atmanirbar Bharat’ the promotion of Craft Tourism aims to support communities, provide employment and foster social integration without compromising on the environmental concerns and thus providing unique experiences to the tourists. The traditional crafts of India have the potential to make the villages and towns an economic powerhouse.

The Dekho Apna Desh Webinar series, launched on 14th April 2020, till date has conducted 19 sessions showcasing the varied tourism products and experiences that India offers across the country. This series has attracted a viewership of 86456 persons till date.

The National e-Governance Division (NeGD) created by the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) has been playing a pivotal role in supporting the Ministry in conducting of the DekhoApna Desh Webinars by providing technical assistance directly with a professional team thereby ensuring effective citizen engagement and communication with all stakeholders using the digital experience platform.

The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India is looking to have a Distinct Brand identity for ‘DekhoApna Desh’ campaign by developing a logo based on creative inputs from the citizens of the country through the Dekho Apna Desh Logo design Contest’ on mygov.in. The contest closes on 16th May 2020.

The sessions of webinars are now available on the https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbzIbBmMvtvH7d6Zo_ZEHDA/featured and also on all social media handles of Ministry of Tourism, Government of India.

The next episode of the webinar scheduled on, 16thMay 2020 at 11.00 am, is titled Uttarakhand: Simply Heaven! Registration link: https://bit.ly/UttarakhandDAD

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NB/AKJ/OA