Srinagar: A joint inspection drive was carried out in the notified tourist areas of Polo View, Residency Road and its adjoining markets by the officials of the Handicrafts and Tourism Departments to check the implementation of Jammu & Kashmir Tourist Trade Act, Jammu & Kashmir Handicrafts Quality Control Act and Jammu & Kashmir Namdha Quality Control Act.
During the course of inspection, some handicraft dealers were found violating the norms of the said acts and were penalized on spot. An amount of Rs 5000/- was realized as fine from the erring dealers. The dealers were strictly warned to desist from the sale of fake machine-made lookalikes of Kashmir art products and were advised to fix tags depicting price and composition on each item displayed for sale.
The dealers were also apprised about the benefits of the GI tagging on the notified Kashmir Crafts. The Department of Handicrafts & Handloom Kashmir is on a mission mode to give a special impetus to GI that will help in eradicating the menace of machine-made and misbranding of Kashmir art products.
The teams from both the departments also made aware the tourists the benefits of purchasing the GI certified products and demanding cash memos for every purchase.
The inspection drives as per the statement of the Department will continue henceforth.
