The Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the Government of India, Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood, inaugurated an exhibition curated by the Jodhpur City Knowledge & Innovation Cluster (JCKIC) at The Kunj Mall, New Delhi, showcasing Rajasthan’s leading handicrafts, handlooms, artisan-led innovations, and design-registered products developed under national science, technology, and livelihood programmes. The inauguration was also attended by Dr. Parvinder Maini, Scientific Secretary, Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (OPSA) to the Government of India. Dr. M. Beena, Development Commissioner (Handlooms), Ministry of Textiles (MoT); Ms. Padmini Singla, Joint Secretary (Fibre), MoT; Shri Ashok Malhotra, Mission Director, National Technical Textiles Mission, MoT;  Shri Anuj Ojha, Joint Development Commissioner (Handicrafts), and Dr. Avinash Agarwal, Director, IIT Jodhpur alongwith senior officials from OPSA and JCKIC also joined.

The exhibition showcases artisanal products, Kalaanubhav.in, and immersive initiatives such as the Dharohar phygital museum, reflecting JCKIC’s holistic approach to design innovation, digital outreach, and capacity-building for artisan communities. The Kunj is first-of-its-kind initiative aimed to empower artisans, enhance market access, and elevate India’s craft sector in line with the Government’s vision of taking artisans “from gaon to global”.

During the inauguration, Prof. Sood invited visitors to explore the exhibition and said, “This collaboration reflects how ministries and Science and Technology (S&T) Clusters can work together to preserve heritage while enhancing market access and economic opportunities for artisans,”. He also encouraged stakeholders to scale such interventions and strengthen artisan livelihoods across regions.

JCKIC focuses on strengthening artisan livelihoods through S&T-enabled interventions such as Kalaanubhav.in and immersive AR/VR tools, while promoting the preservation and global recognition of indigenous crafts through design registration and Geographical Indication (GI) support. The MoT has allocated a dedicated space at The Kunj for JCKIC to showcase Rajasthan’s traditional and technology-enabled craft innovations.

The S&T Clusters initiative is a flagship programme of the OPSA, launched in 2020 on the recommendations of the Prime Minister’s Science, Technology, and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC). It follows a consortium-based, demand-driven model to build integrated multi-stakeholder ecosystems - bringing together industry, start-ups, MSMEs, academia, R&D institutions, government bodies, and philanthropic partners, to address region-specific challenges through coordinated S&T interventions in support of national priorities such as Atmanirbhar Bharat. At present, there are eight S&T Clusters established in – Delhi-DRIIV (2020), Hyderabad-RICH (2020), Jodhpur-JCKIC (2020), Pune-PKC (2020), Bhubaneswar-BCKIC (2021), Bengaluru-BeST (2022), Northern Region-PI-RAHI (2023), and the latest one in Vizag-AMTZ (2024).

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