Women send Wooden Rakhis for PM & Soldiers

Women send Wooden Rakhis for PM & Soldiers

Varanasi: Colourful handmade wooden Rakhis were sent to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Galwan valley soldiers by the women artisans of Varanasi for the forthcoming Rakshabandhan festival.

The packet along with a letter to the PM were handed over to the in-charge of the PM’s parliamentary office Shiv Sharan Pathak on Tuesday. These Rakhis represent the traditional craft of Varanasi wooden lacquerware and toys tagged with Geographical Indication (GI). These Rakhis were prepared by many local artisans including Shalini, Vandana, Reeta, Pushpa, Sita and others with support of the master craftsman and national merit awardee Rameshwar Singh.

Women send Wooden Rakhis for PM & Soldiers

In letter, they urged the PM requesting to ensure that the rakhis reach the soldiers at the Galwan valley. “Being inspired by the PM’s mantra of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’, we started making wooden rakhi this year for the festival of Rakshabandhan” said Shalini. According to her, during the COVID-19 pandemic period the women artisans of Varanasi got employment opportunities by preparing about 50,000 pieces of wooden rakhis.

The GI expert Padma Shri Dr. Rajni Kant, who motivated the women for making wooden Rakhis, said that the first consignment of wooden rakhi was supplied to New Delhi about 15 days back to see the market response. “The artisans started producing the wooden Rakhis in bulk after receiving good response and demand,” he said. Varanasi wooden lacquerware & toy is an ancient craft. Varanasi wooden lacquerware & toys craft is protected under Intellectual property rights after getting Geographical Indication (GI) tag in 2015.