SRINAGAR: Principal Secretary, Industries and Commerce (I&C), Ranjan Prakash Thakur, on Friday flagged off the first-ever shipment of GI certified Kashmiri Hand knotted silk Carpets to Europe from New Delhi.
Director, Department of Handicrafts and Handloom Kashmir, Mahmood Ahmad Shah, Director, Indian Institute of Carpet Technology (IICT), Srinagar, Zubair Ahmad Mir, Chairman, Carpet Export Promotion Council (CEPC), Umar Hameed and President, Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCC&I), Sheikh Aashiq and other representatives from Carpet Trade and Industry were present on the occasion.
It is pertinent to mention here that pursuant to registration of Kashmiri Hand-knotted Carpets under Geographical Indication of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 in 2016, the Indian Institute of Carpet Technology (IICT), Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, introduced QR Code based mechanism, first of its kind in the world, for certification of Hand-knotted Carpets manufactured in the UT.
By virtue of this mechanism, the buyer can check and verify requisite details of a carpet, in respect of its genuineness and authenticity with other related parameters, in real-time, with the help of a Smartphone before purchasing the same.
The QR code along with the registered GI Logo printed on secured fusion label, possessing requisite covert and overt information, is fixed on the carpet after conducting necessary physical inspection/testing of different parameters. This is a special label that cannot be copied or misused. Besides, there is a unique alphanumerical code printed on each label for verification of details of a particular carpet on www.iictsrinagarcarpet-gi.org, if QR scanning fails at any point of time.
Recently, Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha, formally launched the QR Code mechanism for certification of Kashmiri Carpets and there was an overwhelming appreciation from all the stakeholders for such an innovative method of certification of Carpets. Since then, the stakeholders in large numbers are approaching the Institute to get their carpets certified/tagged. Reportedly, the concerned stakeholders/users have to remain in waiting for getting their carpets tagged/labeled due to unprecedented demand.
This historic initiative is expected to go a long way in authorizing the overall quality of Hand-knotted Carpets which in turn, certainly, will boost the exports of the carpet Industry in the International market.
Meanwhile, the Handicraft and Handloom Department J&K in association with Carpet Export Promotion Council (CEPC) held a seminar at Le Meridian New Delhi today which was followed by an interactive session with stakeholders and media fraternity.
The main objective of this event was to make people aware about Geographical Indications (GI) Tagged Carpets and provide them on the spot demonstration of GI labelling on Carpets.
The stakeholders appreciated this initiative of the government which is expected to increase the demand of genuine Kashmiri Carpets throughout the World as there will be no scope of cheating or any fraud to the customer.
