Srinagar: Chief Secretary Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta Wednesday asked the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Srinagar to establish a centre for promoting J&K’s traditional products.
Chairing a meeting of the UT Level Advisory Committee of the NIFT Srinagar, in which Administrative Secretaries of departments of Finance, Industries & Commerce, and Higher Education, besides, Director-General NIFT, MD SIDCO, and other concerned officers participated, it was informed that the campus of NIFT Srinagar with state-of-art facilities including labs, resource center, design studio, incubator, amphitheatre, and hostels at Ompora Budgam will be completed by May 2022, an official prtess release informed.
Currently, the Institute is running two courses from temporary accommodation at SIDCO Industrial Complex Rangreth.
The NIFT campus is being constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 325.36 crore on an expanse of 16.6 acres of land will be the biggest among the 17 such campuses in the country.
Once completed, NIFT will resume functioning at full capacity with seven dedicated departments and will enroll approximately 700 students, giving 35 percent reservation to the students having domicile in Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, the press release said.
It was further informed that the construction works are nearing completion and the academic block, administrative block, auditorium, hostel building, incubation centre, and canteen block will be handed over in October 2021; whereas the rest of the infrastructure will be handed over by May 2022.
Emphasizing the need for better designs and proper branding for sustained growth of local products, the Chief Secretary asked the NIFT to take up purposeful engagement with the local artisans and self-help groups and train them in accordance with current market requirements in consultation with the Industries & Commerce department.
Dr. Mehta urged the NIFT to establish a ‘Centre of Excellence’ for taking up J&K-specific projects for the revival of J&K’s traditional products including Namdah, Pashmina, Papermachie, tila, silk, and woodcraft.
Director-General NIFT mentioned that NIFT will be forming a team of faculty and experts from other campuses to work on design intervention in crafts of J&K. He maintained that NIFT will also work towards training the artisans, weavers, and self-help groups in line with the Chief Secretary’s advice.
